Re:Massachusetts Steamship Authority hit by ransomware attac...
by akiselev on Wednesday June 02, 2021 @04:00PM
(#27373358)
> How many of these attacks are fully automated in the initial attack/encrypt phase vs. human operators explicitly working to more fully infiltrate a target?
Given the effectiveness of social engineering in hacking's history, that's a very good question. I wouldn't be surprised if randomized attacks are used to create a "sales funnel" of high value targets with poor IT ops/outdated equipment/etc that can be exploited for big payouts. All it takes is a few hundred or thousand dollars to bribe a low level employee so the vast majority of the cost is likely in finding targets. Once they've identified a target, the exploitation process is probably mechanical.
Given the effectiveness of social engineering in hacking's history, that's a very good question. I wouldn't be surprised if randomized attacks are used to create a "sales funnel" of high value targets with poor IT ops/outdated equipment/etc that can be exploited for big payouts. All it takes is a few hundred or thousand dollars to bribe a low level employee so the vast majority of the cost is likely in finding targets. Once they've identified a target, the exploitation process is probably mechanical.