Exposure Extortion: Ransomware’s Equally Evil Cousin

Exposure extortion is ransomware’s equally evil cousin, and these two tactics are commonly used together. However, we’re seeing a trend where some criminals are skipping ransomware (which requires more effort) and focusing solely on exposure extortion. In exposure extortion attacks, criminals steal data, sometimes shopping it around to competitors, pressuring victims to pay by informing their customers and partners that their data will be exposed if the organization doesn’t comply, and then exposing the data on a leak site or selling it on a Dark Web marketplace.

Learn more about exposure extortion and discover strategies to help reduce your organization's risks in our new video. For more prevention strategies, read our blog: The 4 Top Cybersecurity Threats of 2022.