Running Signal Will Soon Cost $50 Million a Year

Signal’s president reveals the cost of running the privacy-preserving platform—not just to drum up donations, but to call out the for-profit surveillance business models it competes against...

A Deep Dive into the Evolution of Ransomware Part 3

This 3-part blog series takes an in-depth look at the evolution of ransomware business models, from the early stages to current trends...

A Deep Dive into the Evolution of Ransomware Part 2

This 3-part blog series takes an in-depth look at the evolution of ransomware business models, from the early stages to current trends...

A Deep Dive into the Evolution of Ransomware Part 1

This 3-part blog series takes an in-depth look at the evolution of ransomware business models, from the early stages to current trends...

Ransomware Business Models: Future Pivots and Trends

Ransomware groups and their business models are expected to change from what and how we know it to date. In this blog entry, we summarize from some of our insights the triggers that spark the small changes in the short term “evolutions” and the bigger deviations “revolutions” they can redirect...

Conti vs. LockBit: A Comparative Analysis of Ransomware Groups

We compare the targeting and business models of the Conti and LockBit ransomware groups using data analysis approaches. This will be presented in full at the 34th Annual FIRST Conference on June 27, 2022...

The Rise of Disruptive Ransomware Attacks: A Call To Action

Our collective use of and dependence on technology has come quite a long way since 1989. That year, the first documented ransomware attack — the AIDS Trojan — was spread via physical media 5 1⁄4" floppy disks delivered by the postal service to individuals subscribed to a mailing list. The malware...

The Underground Exploit Market and the Importance of Virtual Patching

Over the past two calendar years, we conducted research on the underground exploit market to learn more about the life cycle of exploits, the kinds of buyers and sellers who transact, and the business models that are in effect in the underground...

Banning Surveillance-Based Advertising

The Norwegian Consumer Council just published a fantastic new report: "Time to Ban Surveillance-Based Advertising." From the Introduction: The challenges caused and entrenched by surveillance-based advertising include, but are not limited to: privacy and data protection infringements opaque...

Amid COVID-19, Global Orgs See a 148% Spike in Ransomware Attacks; Finance Industry Heavily Targeted

Cyber criminals often exploit fear and uncertainty during major world events by launching cyberattacks. These attacks are often performed with social engineering campaigns leveraging malicious emails that lure victims to install malware that steals financial data and other valuable personal...

March 2020 -- Akamai Edge Security: Leader in Five Forrester Wave Reports

Forrester has named Akamai a Leader in five different Wave and New Wave reports. This significant achievement reflects the strength of Akamai's intelligent edge platform for securing and delivering digital experiences across our entire security portfolio. Forrester Wave Leaders are the top vendor...

The Promise and Peril of 5G

The next generation of mobile cellular technology known as fifth-generation wireless 5G is hitting a peak in the hype cycle, emerging as a major theme/5G.aspx at the Consumer Electronics Show CES this week. Wireless carriers are investing billions of dollars into the technology, which requires a...

Don't Say Goodbye to Your OTT Viewers

Takes a second to say goodbye Say goodbye, oh, oh, oh It takes a second to say goodbye Say goodbye, oh, oh, oh, say bye bye Where you going to now When U2 penned the lyrics to its song, "Seconds," in 1983, there was no such thing as online video. In fact, video had killed the radio star only four...

SOPA: The Folly of Capitol Hill

The ongoing controversy surrounding the SOPA and PIPA anti-piracy bills in Congress has produced a lot of things: misunderstanding of what the bills would do; silly rhetoric from trade groups supposedly defending content creators; confusion on Capitol Hill; and a clear demonstration of how...