Although these two terms are often confused, there is a difference between ransomware and Cyber Extortion. However, the pair are linked. Ransomware can lead to Cyber Extortion and vice versa.
Ransomware is simply malicious software (malware) that locks victims out of their devices or data until they pay a ransom. Hackers encrypt your information, making it unreadable without the correct decryption key, such as a password.
Ransomware often targets companies where losing access to data could lead to a loss of customers and brand trust. The amount of information held by businesses is also more significant than the amount held by individuals. That’s one reason healthcare organizations, for example, are particularly vulnerable to this type of attack: The amount of private data, even just personally identifiable information (PII), held by such a place is especially valuable.
However, no one is safe from ransomware, so this malware can infect individuals as well.
What is Cyber Extortion?
Cyber Extortion is the act of holding sensitive data for ransom. Yes, it sounds a lot like ransomware, but that's because ransomware is often associated with extortion and cyber exploitation. However, that's not always the case.
Cyber Extortion can involve blackmailing through other methods, so your entire network doesn't have to be encrypted. Instead, anyone with private information or images that you don't want released to a third party can threaten you with a ransom.
Sextortion is a prime example of this: It involves a scammer keeping a person's adult images, messages, and/or videos, using them as leverage to get what they want.
How can Ransomware lead to Cyber Extortion?
Any ransomware holds data for ransom. To get access back, there will be a level of extortion. There is a fine line to be drawn between being infected with ransomware and being a victim of Cyber Extortion.
Cyber Extortion doesn't necessarily involve money either: Bad guys can get you to give up more data, get you to spread ransomware or viruses or phishing messages, get more photos of you (perhaps NSFW images or videos), or any other form of blackmail.
So can Cyber Extortion lead to ransomware? Yes, any means of extortion can lead to further malware infections like ransomware. Just because you give in to a hacker’s demands doesn’t mean they’ll play nice with you.
Differences and Similarities Between Ransomware and Cyber Extortion
While ransomware is the actual software used, Cyber Extortion is the act of a party trying to make money from that malware.
Ransomware locks down a system, while Cyber Extortion can apply to a variety of situations. It's anything digital that's used against you, including phishing emails and text messages, romance scams, and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks .
Of course, many different types of ransomware can affect you, and some forms of Cyber Extortion, like phishing, can involve ransomware.
However, the purpose of ransomware and Cyber Extortion is the same: Extorting money from the victim.
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