Understanding the Hazards of Ransomware-as-a-Service Attacks to Organizational Security

Many businesses have been victims of huge financial losses due to the rapid evolution of ransomware attacks. In recent times, these attacks have spread across several industries, with a notable increase in demand by threat actors. The average cost of a destructive attack grew to $5.12 million, in 2021, and it keeps increasing as the years go by. 

It's a concern to see that this activity squarely thrives on the development of the Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) model, which allows the easy and quick flow of dark operations on the Web. SMEs are even more affected by this operation because they have very few resources to combat it. However, some structures and software have been created by experts to help SMEs to get a foot in these trying times. 

While it is important to be aware of the danger of Ransomware-as-a-Service attacks, it is even more important to understand its concept, how it works, and how it can be prevented. 

Ransomware-as-a-Service is a revenue and business model that provides a platform for affiliates(users) with little or no skill set to launch malware at their prospects and make away with huge amounts of money. They do this by gaining access to a network, encrypting the files, and leaving a ransom note asking the admin to pay a ransom to get a data decryption code.

RaaS creates a system for easy extortion over stolen or encrypted data, such that one cloud provider can enable several users to perform operations at the same time. This allows the quick and easy operation of this service.

Like every other business team, RaaS also includes managers, developers, affiliates, and the like. The RaaS operators, who sit at the top of the organizational hierarchy, operate at little or no risk; their major responsibility is developing the Ransomware payload that encrypts data. In this business, the affiliates are at more risk than the operators, because they're the ones carrying out the operations. 

Ransomware-as-a-Service runs on two major business models: the SaaS model and the affiliate model. Like Software-as-a-Service(SaaS), RaaS works as a subscription-based model, whereby affiliates pay the operator monthly or weekly, to be granted access to the software. He could also pay for one-time access to the service. The affiliate model allows affiliates to be paid a particular percentage for every successful operation carried out. 

The Ransomware-as-a-Service scheme makes cyber attacks easier and faster to execute. With a single software, affiliates can launch several attacks on companies and cause an economic wreck.

RaaS schemes are even more dangerous because they are directly operated by a unified team of humans, whose operations are smart, targeted, and disastrous. The effect is different from the automated one. Some affiliates are so meticulous that they spend as much as weeks and months, just burrowing into an organization's network to search for vulnerable spots and launch attacks at their most vulnerable moment. 

They've studied that companies' securities are weaker on holidays and weekends when most employees are resting; therefore, threat actors have found this moment to be the best time to launch attacks.

As companies are getting more aware of Ransomware attacks and putting up schemes to stay protected, attackers are also becoming smarter at their games. The most notable RaaS innovation is the double extortion scheme in which affiliates, after gaining access to a company's network, steal the data before launching the Ransomware. 

So that, even if the company has backed up its data, it can still be threatened with data leakage. And to speed up the payment process, they threaten to leak the data on the dark web; in some cases, they even share a little of it, so the company can know how much access they've gained and hasten the payment process. Payment is usually done with cryptocurrencies so that their movements can not be tracked. 

Since RaaS has evolved to be more focused on leaking data, it's becoming clear to businesses that the danger is not squarely about the ransomware attack but the access of a stranger into their network. 

The same process goes for preventing RaaS attacks. However, since RaaS has evolved to focus more on intrusion than on launching ransomware, they can break into a network without being noticed for a long time, and, in their time frame of intrusion, they steal important data. Therefore there are simple and more effective strategies to prevent these attacks.

It's easier for big firms to fund their data security strategies than it is for SMEs because the latter cannot afford to hire seasoned cyber threat hunters to give alerts and recognize indicators of compromise (IOC). 

Even at that, SMEs could still make efforts to invest in Managed Detection and Response (MDR), which gives 24/7 security and alerts on every sign of data threat. It's usually powered by a team of cybersecurity experts, who work with a robust set of correlated data to ensure constant security. Leveraging MDR will work a great deal in saving businesses, especially SMEs. 

While this stands to be true, it's safer and more cost-effective to employ preventive measures against cyber threats. Some of these preventive measures include the use of multi-factor endpoint protection, two-factor authentication, firewalls, etc. But when they've broken into the network, MDR should be put to work. If not, the threat actor could burrow the company’s network for a lengthy number of days without being noticed. 

The period between system compromise and detection is called median dwell time, usually 21 days. Before this time, a lot of havoc would have been done; therefore it's safer and more effective to employ these security strategies. 

RaaS attacks are a dangerous evolution of Ransomware attacks because they are targeted human operations that now pivot towards data theft and file encryption. And of course, because now, bad actors don't need any technical expertise to launch them.

This evolution poses a serious threat to businesses, especially SMEs whose capacity to combat it is limited. Despite their limitations, SMEs can still afford to invest in MDR to keep a strong foot against RaaS attacks. In addition, they could also employ ransomware preventive measures to stay protected from cyber attacks, while making efforts to detect intruders using MDR. 

While all of these count, it is expected that eCrime adversaries will continue to advance their data-leak extortion strategy and develop more sophisticated tools that could be easily deployed.