IN THE global game of cyberwarfare, businesses are the pawns, their data the treasure, and ransomware the weapon of choice. Recently, a global firm headquartered in Singapore and with offices around the world, found itself on the front lines of this digital battle. 

“Victim Co” (an alias) saw its IT network breached by an unseen enemy wielding a potent strain of ransomware. The invaders held the firm’s corporate data hostage, encrypting it all in a digital lockdown. About 2,000 servers and end points had been locked up and, to prove a point, the attackers exfiltrated hundreds of gigabytes of corporate information.

It was a methodical siege, waged by a cybermercenary army, operating as a “Ransomware as a Service” (RaaS) gang where separate groups collaborate, each playing its part in the digital heist.