malware years runonly to avoid detection

The aim of locker ransomware is to block primary computer functions. This form of ransomware does not do any harm to the victim’s computer. In scareware, the cyber crooks exploit the fear rather than lock the device or encrypt any data ( Andronio et al., 2015). Scareware may use pop-up ads to manipulate users into assuming that they are required to download certain software, thereby using coercion techniques for downloading malware. Ransomware can be categorized into three main forms - locker, crypto, and scareware ( Gomez-Hernandez, Alvarez-Gonzalez, Garcia-Teodoro, 2018, Kok, Abdullah, Jhanjhi, Supramaniam, 2019) - as shown in Fig. 1 were knocked offline ( Chen and Bridges, 2017) government systems, railway networks, and private companies were affected as well ( Cosic et al., 2019). Within days, it had infected over 200,000 computers spanning across 150 countries ( Mattei, 2017). Another notorious example of ransomware is the WannaCry worm, which spread rapidly across many computer networks in May 2017 ( Akbanov, Vassilakis, Logothetis, 2019, Mackenzie, 2019). To regain access, users were asked to pay some ransom in Bitcoin otherwise, their data was made public ( Hakak et al., 2020c). The application tricked users by locking user contacts, pictures, videos, and access to social media accounts as soon as they installed it. For example, during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, an Android app called CovidLock was developed to monitor heat map visuals and statistics on COVID-19 ( Saeed, 2020).

There has been a surge in ransomware attacks in the past few years. This ransom typically uses cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, which makes it difficult to track the recipient of the transaction and is ideal for attackers to evade law enforcement agencies ( Kara, Aydos, 2020, Karapapas, Pittaras, Fotiou, Polyzos, 2020). Ransomware is a type of malware designed to facilitate different nefarious activities, such as preventing access to personal data unless a ransom is paid ( Khammas, 2020, Komatwar, Kokare, 2020, Meland, Bayoumy, Sindre, 2020). The number of ransomware attacks has grown exponentially thanks to easily obtainable ransomware toolkits and ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) that allows novices to launch ransomware attacks ( Sharmeen et al., 2020). The following industries were particularly targeted: transportation, healthcare, financial services, and government ( Alshaikh et al., 2020). Targets shifted from individuals to companies and organizations in order to fetch larger ransoms ( Muslim et al., 2019). Modern ransomware emerged around 2005 and quickly became a viable business strategy for attackers ( Richardson, North, 2017, Wilner, Jeffery, Lalor, Matthews, Robinson, Rosolska, Yorgoro, 2019). In the 1990s and early 2000s, ransomware attacks were mostly carried out by hobbyist hackers who aimed to gain notoriety through cyber pranks and vandalism ( Srinivasan, 2017). After the target computer was restarted 90 times, PC Cyborg hid directories and encrypted the names of all files on the C drive, rendering the system unusable. The first ransomware sample dates back to 1989 with the PC Cyborg Trojan ( Tailor and Patel, 2017). Higher levels of unemployment can be another factor that motivates people towards cybercrime, such as launching ransomware attacks and disrupting critical IT services, in order to support themselves ( Lallie et al., 2020).Ĭyber extortion methods have existed since the 1980s. Attackers made good use of fake COVID-19 related information as a hook to launch more successful phishing campaigns. For example, many phishing campaigns prompted users to click on specific links to get sensitive information related to a COVID-19 vaccine, shortage of surgical masks, etc. As the workplace paradigm shifted to home-based scenarios-resulting in weaker security controls-attackers lured people through COVID-19 themed ransomware phishing emails. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in the rate of cyberattacks.

Malware years runonly to avoid detection