Ransomware Evolution: From Individual Attacks to Nation-State Warfare
The ransomware threat landscape has undergone dramatic transformation in recent years, evolving from opportunistic attacks targeting individual users to sophisticated operations capable of crippling critical infrastructure. Recent attacks on Colonial Pipeline, JBS, and hundreds of other organizations demonstrate that ransomware has become a national security threat requiring coordinated government and private sector response. The Evolution of Ransomware First Generation: Simple Encryption (2012-2016) Early ransomware focused on basic file encryption: CryptoLocker (2013): Pioneer of modern ransomware TeslaCrypt (2015): Targeted gaming files Locky (2016): Spread through email attachments Key characteristics: ...