{"id":8125,"date":"2017-08-10T18:12:01","date_gmt":"2017-08-10T10:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.megabites.com.ph\/?p=8125"},"modified":"2017-08-10T18:12:01","modified_gmt":"2017-08-10T10:12:01","slug":"the-dark-side-of-the-dark-web","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.megabites.com.ph\/the-dark-side-of-the-dark-web\/","title":{"rendered":"The dark side of the dark web"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Gone are the days when ransomware was developed and distributed by skilled cybercriminals. Today, anyone can easily build and launch ransomware as there are only two key requirements \u2013 bad intent and access to the dark web, a marketplace where malware kits are advertised the way a traditional online retailer promotes regular items like clothes and shoes.<\/p>\n
Users on the dark web are annoymous and protected by a privacy feature baked directly into the Tor browser, which is the browser used to access it. This also means that law enforcement authorities are unable to identify where the websites are, who owns them, who uses them or who to arrest.<\/p>\n
The easy access to the dark web is fuelling ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) distribution models, which essentially enable novice cybercriminals to download and use ransomware. As ransomware is cheap to purchase and spread, it also provides a quicker payout than stealing credit card data or personal information.<\/p>\n
One of the most recent, successful example is Philadelphia<\/em>, a ransomware variant that is easy to customise and deploy, and uses common marketing strategies to reach potential customers. Cybercrooks only have to pay once to get an executable that can generate unlimited ransomware samples.<\/p>\n There is even a production-quality intro video on YouTube, explaining the nuts and bolts of the kit and ways to customise the ransomware with a range of feature options. Hence, with ransomware variants like Philadelphia<\/em>, criminals with limited technical skills, can easily execute high-quality attack campaigns.<\/p>\n In fact, there are ransomware variants on the dark web delivered via cloud that offer a host of menu options to guide crooks on how much ransom to charge and the distribution spectrum of the attack.<\/p>\n For a ransomware campaign to succeed, attackers must overcome four main challenges:<\/p>\n Chester Wisniewski, Principal Research Scientist, Sophos shares tips for enterprises to ensure attackers do not cross these challenges successfully:<\/p>\n\n
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