Ransomware Reloaded: Re-examining Its Trend, Research and Mitigation in the Era of Data Exfiltration

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dc.citation.issue1
dc.citation.volume57
dc.contributor.authorMcIntosh T
dc.contributor.authorSusnjak T
dc.contributor.authorLiu T
dc.contributor.authorXu D
dc.contributor.authorWatters P
dc.contributor.authorLiu D
dc.contributor.authorHao Y
dc.contributor.authorNg A
dc.contributor.authorHalgamuge M
dc.contributor.editorAtienza D
dc.contributor.editorMilano M
dc.date.accessioned2024-12-10T23:08:08Z
dc.date.available2024-12-10T23:08:08Z
dc.date.issued2024-10-07
dc.description.abstractRansomware has grown to be a dominant cybersecurity threat by exfiltrating, encrypting, or destroying valuable user data and causing numerous disruptions to victims. The severity of the ransomware endemic has generated research interest from both the academia and the industry. However, many studies held stereotypical assumptions about ransomware, used unverified, outdated, and limited self-collected ransomware samples, and did not consider government strategies, industry guidelines, or cyber intelligence. We observed that ransomware no longer exists simply as an executable file or limits to encrypting files (data loss); data exfiltration (data breach) is the new norm, espionage is an emerging theme, and the industry is shifting focus from technical advancements to cyber governance and resilience. We created a ransomware innovation adoption curve, critically evaluated 212 academic studies published during 2020 and 2023, and cross-verified them against various government strategies, industry reports, and cyber intelligence on ransomware. We concluded that many studies were becoming irrelevant to the contemporary ransomware reality and called for the redirection of ransomware research to align with the continuous ransomware evolution in the industry. We proposed to address data exfiltration as priority over data encryption, to consider ransomware in a business-practical manner, and recommended research collaboration with the industry.
dc.description.confidentialfalse
dc.edition.editionJanuary 2025
dc.identifier.citationMcIntosh T, Susnjak T, Liu T, Xu D, Watters P, Liu D, Hao Y, Ng A, Halgamuge M. (2024). Ransomware Reloaded: Re-examining Its Trend, Research and Mitigation in the Era of Data Exfiltration. ACM Computing Surveys. 57. 1.
dc.identifier.doi10.1145/3691340
dc.identifier.eissn1557-7341
dc.identifier.elements-typejournal-article
dc.identifier.issn0360-0300
dc.identifier.number18
dc.identifier.urihttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/72261
dc.languageEnglish
dc.publisherAssociation for Computing Machinery New York, NY, United States
dc.publisher.urihttps://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3691340
dc.relation.isPartOfACM Computing Surveys
dc.rights(c) The author/sen
dc.rights.licenseCC BY-NC-NDen
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/en
dc.subjectRansomware
dc.subjectransomware detection
dc.subjectransomware defense
dc.subjectransomware prevention
dc.titleRansomware Reloaded: Re-examining Its Trend, Research and Mitigation in the Era of Data Exfiltration
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.elements-id492438
pubs.organisational-groupOther
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