Talos Takes

What's the difference between data theft extortion and ransomware?

August 11, 2023 Cisco Talos Episode 150
Talos Takes
What's the difference between data theft extortion and ransomware?
Show Notes

Cisco Talos Incident Response observed data theft extortion more than any other type of cyber attack last quarter. So why has it become so popular? And what makes it different from ransomware? Jacob Finn from the Talos Threat Intelligence and Interdiction Team joins Jon this week to discuss the basics of data theft extortion. He just worked on an overview of this threat for Talos researchers and works closely with Talos IR on their quarterly trends reports. Jacob discusses why threat actors are choosing data theft extortion over ransomware and how this makes defense and detection more difficult. For more on this topic, read our one-page overview here.