Who'll be next?

from here and here

A hospital in Illinois is closing it's doors (in part) because of a ransomware attack that took them offline for weeks and prevented them from submitting insurance claims, which means they couldn't make money. I'm sure the crooks responsible aren't losing any sleep over the new medical desert they've created and the deaths that will probably result when people having medical emergencies can't hold on for the now half hour it will take to get to the next closest emergency room. And because they aren't losing any sleep over it, they're probably not going to do anything to avoid doing it again.

As if you need more reasons to hate going to the dentist

from here and here

A dental health insurance company was breached and ransomed, but because they didn't pay, the data got leaked. I suppose if the crooks are going to ransom a company over it's data a health insurance company seems like a pretty good bet. They've got lots of money and I don't think they can arbitrarily pass on the additional cost to their customers.

Never trust a crook

from here and here

If it weren't for the desperation that ransomware victims often feel, I suspect a lot fewer would believe those trying to take advantage of them. Even if you do get your data back, that doesn't mean the crooks won't try to extort you later, and paying lets them know you're a viable source of funds for them.

Half-assed ransomware

from here and here

If you've ever paid to get your data back and it worked, count yourself lucky. Not every ransomware is that well made, which means some people get ransomware that can't give their files back even after they pay.

Maybe we should get a license

from here and here

I feel kinda bad for the makers of WinRAR. Since their product is being used by ransomware, they're bound to get negative attention out of it. Maybe if enough of us who never got a license finally did so it will make up for the hassle this will surely cause.

Modern Nightmares

from here and here

There's often a certain amount of hacking involved in ransomware deployment, but usually not like that.

Ransomware shirt

Product Page

If a ransomware operator ever asks me for "2 bit coins", I'm going to have to try sending them quarters, since 2 bits is 25 cents.

One reason to encrypt your data

from here and here

Maybe you've heard the saying "Dance like nobody's watching, encrypt like everyone is"? Well, ransomware operators are one of the ones who are watching.

Backups get you back up and running

from here and here

Y'know, with a name like "ran somewhere" you'd think the process would be faster.

Never trust your attackers

from here and here

It's not the first time and it won't be the last time that ransomware operators proved themselves to be untrustworthy.  I know it's a tough position to be in, but if you get compromised you have to prepare for the possibility that the data will be leaked. Paying the people who attacked you to not make things worse has no guarantee of success. Why should they keep their word once they have what they want? It's not like they're honourable, they wouldn't have attacked you in the first place if they were.

Maybe backups would have been faster

from here and here

I've heard that one of the reasons victims pay is that it can be faster to pay the ransom and decrypt the data than to restore from backups, but if it can take hours for a bitcoin transaction to go through then maybe that argument isn't so clear-cut after all. 

No ransom for you!

from here and here

True story. It wasn't even my job, but when you're one of the few people able to help it kinda becomes your responsibility. I did try to get my employer to donate to the maintainer of the service that identified which decryptor to use, but I never thought to ask for a raise or bonus for myself. Apparently some people think that was a missed opportunity.  

WannaCry Ransomware sticker

Product Page

I wonder how many people would be fooled by sticking this onto one of their devices. 

Bitcoin can't unfry a hard drive

from here and here

While it's true that some ransomware operators have incorporated blackmail into their business model so that simply restoring from backups is no longer sufficient to resolve the incident, many if not most victims still seem to be unwilling or unable to recover from backups. It's as if they think ransomware is all they need to worry about and they can simply pay the ransom to get their data back, as if that's just the cost of doing business. 

That cryptocurrency won't uncrush a laptop, it won't unflood an office, it won't stop a fire, or any of the other sorts of disasters that really would benefit from backups. Backups are still the best way to get your data back.

Follow the money

from here and here

Realistically, if the feds can track down purveyors of child sexual abuse material through the blockchain, they can track down ransomware operators too. There's absolutely no added complexity.

It doesn't always pay to be first

from here and here

I wonder if it was some kind of karmic retribution that the ransomware gang known as Karma had their ransom operation interrupted by another ransomware gang.

What's good for the victim is good for the attacker

from here and here

It never gets old watching those who victimize others become victims themselves. It's like it almost makes you believe the universe is fair and just when bad things happen to bad people. Of course then bad things happen to good people and the illusion is shattered. Hopefully this breach of the chat logs for the Conti ransomware group will lead to more meaningful consequences for them.

Too many cons in your content

from here and here

Protecting yourself from malvertising is the single best reason to block ads. The fact that it improves the browsing experience immeasurably is just icing on the cake.

Malware Family sticker

Product Page

If you're familiar with malware families, this is not going to be anything like that. Instead, it just imagines various malware types as members of the family of things called "malware". It's also missing some malware types. Granted a lot of things can fall under the heading of trojan horse or bot, but if spyware gets it's own glyph then where's adware? Where are the downloaders, the droppers, the RATs? I guess the design would be too big if everything were included.

Time to put the NRA on the Pew Pew map

from here

Pretty sure a rifle isn't going to stop ransomware, so the NRA was unprepared to fend off a ransomware attack. Maybe the NRA should branch out and form the National 2 Factor Association to help keep the ransomware operators out of their system next time.