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Ransomware is quite complex and not easy to develop, especially as businesses are ramping up their protection against ransomware and therefore ransomware developers have to increase the sophistication of the ransomware to evade enterprise defences. Continuous development of ransomware leaves the developers with little time to search for suitable victims and carry out attacks. They have therefore applied the SaaS delivery model to ransomware to create Ransomware as a Service where the developer provides the ransomware on a subscription or commission basis to affiliates who identify potential victims and carry out attacks.
RaaS offerings can be very sophisticated with developers advertising their offerings on the dark web and offering dashboards for the affiliates to use to monitor their attacks. Some RaaS providers even include Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks and voice-scrambled VoIP calls to the victim’s business partners and the media as part of their service to increase pressure on the victim to pay the ransom.
From the threat actors’ point of view, this is a superior model as division of labour creates specialisation, increases productivity, and improves return on investment. However, this is bad news for victims especially for SMBs.
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RaaS – Ransomware Sauce Added To The SaaS Recipe?
To understand Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) and how it impacts Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) we must first understand ransomware and Software as a Service (SaaS) and how these intersect.
RaaS in easy words?
Putting in the software as a service (SaaS) or platform as a service’s (PaaS) shoes, ransomware as a service (RaaS) offers an interactive package. A typical RaaS service includes a well-etched interface, a dashboard to control the entire operation, a ransomware vector, and often a helpline, user reviews, and forums. RaaS operators offer their services in three different business models- timely subscription, lifetime license, and affiliate program.
Things You Should Know About Ransomware As A Service (RaaS)?
Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) is a growing cybercrime model where ransomware developers lease out their tools to other attackers, making it easier for even low-skilled criminals to launch high-impact attacks. This has led to a surge in ransomware incidents, often involving double extortion tactics—encrypting data and threatening to leak it unless a ransom is paid. Traditional security measures aren't enough to stop these evolving threats. That’s why businesses turn to cybersecurity providers like SafeAeon, which offers 24/7 threat detection, ransomware prevention, and expert-managed security services to help organizations stay protected and resilient against RaaS attacks.
RaaS Is A Nightmare For SMBs?
Before the RaaS model was developed, ransomware developers would prefer attacking large companies as the ransom collected would have to be large enough to justify their effort and risk in developing and deploying the ransomware. Development of ransomware required great skill which limited the number of ransomware developers and therefore the number of attacks. Under the RaaS model, the attack can be carried out by an affiliate who has no coding knowledge, which significantly increases the number of attackers. It now becomes profitable for ransomware operators to attack a large number of smaller victims which opens the floodgates to attacks on SMBs, which is supported by attack statistics: the USA reports that 50-70% of all ransomware attacks target SMBs. This is a nightmare for SMBs because the disruption caused by a ransomware attack may be sufficient to shut down operations.
Subscription Model?
The subscription-based RaaS service works just like any other SaaS or streaming service. The operator (often, a group of malware authors) offers its ransomware-related service for a limited period in exchange for a mentioned price in Bit-Coin, Ethereum, and other popular cryptocurrencies.
Evolution of Cyberthreat Ecosystem?
Cyberattackers have borrowed from the legitimate software industry and embraced Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), now offering Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) where attack developers license their attacks to others with limited skills and experience. This makes MSMEs viable targets for the licensee attacker who prefers to extract ransom from smaller organisations.
So what’s next?
Modern threat actors know how to accelerate their attack sphere by implementing new technologies in their game, and an as-a-service solution is not an exception. They have been practising the revenue model via the cloud malware services since 2015 with the Quaverse remote access trojan (RAT). Later, ransomware as a service (RaaS) and malware as a service (MaaS) appeared on the market to encourage budding threat actors to get into the game of earning quick and easy blood money. The arrival of RaaS multiplied the ransomware attack surface and significantly increased the ransom money. Both instances offer clear insights into how impactful the newly available C2aaS could be. However, in our fight against adversaries, we at K7 Computing are also combating and improving our ability to detect and thwart cyberattacks of any sophistication to save enterprises and individuals.
What is Jan Raas's birthday?
Jan Raas was born on November 8, 1952.
When was Jan Raas born?
Jan Raas was born on November 8, 1952.
When was Naser al-Raas born?
Naser al-Raas was born in 1983.
When was Elinor Raas Heller born?
Elinor Raas Heller was born in 1904.
When did Elinor Raas Heller die?
Elinor Raas Heller died in 1987.
