THREAT‑WATCH
Glossary
Ransomware
Malware that encrypts files or systems and demands payment for their release, often alongside a threat to leak stolen data.
Modern ransomware attacks typically combine encryption with data theft (the so-called 'double extortion' model) so that even organizations with clean backups face pressure to pay to prevent stolen data from being published. Speed of detection during the early stages of an attack is the single biggest factor in how much damage a ransomware incident causes.