Ransomware is ugly. It infects your machine and locks all the the data and to unlock you have to pay a fee. In this episode we dive into some of the people behind it.
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Sources
- 2011 - Renaissance of ransomware
- 2017-2019 Ransomware statistics and facts
- 50 Hackers Using Lurk Banking Trojan Arrested in Russia
- A History of Ransomware: Where It Started & Where It’s Going
- An Illustrated History Of Bitcoin Crashes
- Angler by Lurk: Why the infamous cybercriminal group that stole millions was renting out its most powerful tool
- Angler Exploit Kit
- Angler Takes Malvertising to New Heights
- Angler’s obituary: Super exploit kit was the work of Russia’s Lurk group
- Attack Code Helps Angler Exploit Kit ‘Evade Microsoft’s EMET’
- Brit hacker jailed for strapping ransomware to smut site ad networks
- Computer hacker who blackmailed porn users jailed after UK’s ‘most serious’ cyber crime investigation
- Connecting the Dots Reveals Crimeware Shake-up
- Criminal Case Record of Zain Qaiser
- Demise of Angler, the world’s worst exploit kit, still shrouded in mystery
- Department of Computer Science Information Pages
- Distributor of the Reveton Police Ransomware Jailed by UK’s NCA
- Europol Police Ransomware Threat Assessment
- FBI MoneyPak Ransomware
- Florida Man laundered money for Reveton ransomware. Then Microsoft hired him
- Former Microsoft Engineer Gets Prison for Role in Reveton Ransomware
- GEEK ‘PLANTED INFECTED SOFTWARE ON PORN SITES’
- Green Dot MoneyPak Fraud Schemes - ROCIC Special Research Report
- Hacker behind £500k online blackmail campaign jailed
- Hacker from Russian crime group jailed for multi-million pound global blackmail conspiracy
- Hacker From Russian Crime Group Jailed In Multi-Million Dollar Global Blackmail Conspiracy
- Hacker who blackmailed porn users into handing him money after they clicked on his pop-up adverts jailed
- Hand-To-Hand Combat With The Insidious ‘FBI MoneyPak Ransomware Virus’
- Here’s how criminals use Bitcoin to launder dirty money
- High-rolling hacker jailed after launching malware attacks via websites
- How Police caught the UK’s most notorious porn ransomware baron
- Huge spam and malware network goes offline
- Inside a ‘Reveton’ Ransomware Operation
- Is Paid Traffic Worth Buying In 2018?
- Key Figure in Police Ransomware Activity Nabbed
- Liberty Reserve
- Lurk trojan takedown also took out Angler exploit kit
- Malicious code hidden in advert images cost ad networks $1.13bn this year
- Malvertising
- Malware in ads turn computers into zombies
- Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Charges Against Liberty Reserve, One Of World’s Largest Digital Currency Companies, And Seven Of Its Principals And Employees For Allegedly Running A $6 Billion Money Laundering Scheme
- Microsoft Engineer Charged in Reveton Ransomware Case
- Microsoft engineer charged with money laundering over Reveton ransomware
- Microsoft Information Page: Exploits and exploit kits
- MoneyPak Website - Send money quickly and convientenly to almost anyone
- New Internet Scam - ‘Ransomware’ Locks Computers, Demands Payment
- POLICE DISMANTLE PROLIFIC RANSOMWARE CYBERCRIMINAL NETWORK
- Prolific London-Based Ransomware Blackmailer Jailed
- Prolific porn ransomware operator jailed for more than six years in UK
- Ransomware Abettor Sentenced
- Ransomware cyber-attack: Who has been hardest hit?
- Ransomware: Why the crooks are ditching bitcoin and where they are going next
- Reveton ransomware distributor sentenced to six years in prison in the UK
- Reveton ransomware gang arrested by Spanish police
- Reveton ransomware gang busted by Europol
- Shellcode
- Social Engineering
- Spanish cops cuff 11 for €1m-a-year ransomware scam
- The WannaCry ransomware attack left the NHS with a £73m IT bill
- Threat Spotlight: Cisco Talos Thwarts Access to Massive International Exploit Kit Generating $60M Annually From Ransomware Alone
- True scale of Bitcoin ransomware extortion revealed
- UK hacker jailed for six years for blackmailing pornography site users
- Understanding the Depth of the Global Ransomware Problem
- US Indictment Against Raymond Uadiale - March 2018
- Vulnerability (computing)
- Washington State Man Sentenced to Prison for Role in Connection with Reveton Ransomware
- What is a distributed denial of service attack (DDoS) and what can you do about them?
- What is Cryptocurrency? [Everything You Must Need To Know!]
- What is malvertising? Malvertising vs. Ad malware
- WHAT IS RANSOMWARE? A GUIDE TO THE GLOBAL CYBERATTACK’S SCARY METHOD
- Why Did Criminals Trust Liberty Reserve?
- Zain Qaiser: Student jailed for blackmailing porn users worldwide
Audio/video sources
- Turn the Lights on Ransomware
- What Is Ransomware?
- Most Ransomware Isn’t As Complex As You Might Think
- Digital currency exchange Liberty Reserve accused of massive money-laundering
- Liberty Reserve & 7 Others Charged for Allegedly Running $6 Billion Money Laundering Scheme
- Massive Money Laundering Scheme Targeting Digital Currency
- ShadowGate: Malvertising in Action Talos
- What is Malvertising?
Attribution
Artwork this episode by 𝕄årç ∆⃝ 𝕄ølïñårō.
Theme music created by Breakmaster Cylinder. Theme song available for listen and download at bandcamp. Or listen to it on Spotify.
Additional music by Epidemic Sound.
Equipment
Recording equipment used this episode was the Shure SM7B, a cloudlifter, Audient ID4, Sony MDR7506 headphones, and Hindenburg audio editor.
Transcript
[FULL TRANSCRIPT]
JACK: [MUSIC] Ransomware is a special type of malware. It’s kind of new and different compared to other malware. While most malware is quiet, downloading silently in the background, hiding itself from the victim, ransomware is the opposite. The moment it installs on your system, it announces it’s there in the loudest and boldest way possible. Ransomware locks down your computer completely, rendering it unusable. The purpose is to shout out that is has taken over your machine and until you pay a fee, you’re not getting it back. There are so many stories right now about businesses and government departments that are getting hit with ransomware and it costs them hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix. Russian railways got hit, banks, hospitals, governments, towns. The mobile phone operators got hit. Universities in China were hit. FedEx got hit in the US. Telefónica in Spain, and Renault in France. They’re all infected and their data was held ransom.