Encrypt the data, leak the data — that’s not enough leverage anymore. A 2026 look at how operators stack additional extortion vectors when the basic playbook stops getting paid.
Ransomnews Research Team
Ransomnews Research Team
The Ransomnews Research Team is the collective byline used for collaborative pieces, editorial briefings, and articles drawing on contributions from multiple researchers. Coverage spans ransomware operations, breach economics, threat actor profiling, OSINT methodology, and emerging risks across security, privacy, and AI.
A 2026 Q1 ransomware leaderboard built from leak-site claims, with the structural changes shaping the operator pool — RansomHub at the top, a long mid-tier, and the takedown ripples still propagating through the ecosystem.
A side-by-side look at the per-attack economics of business email compromise vs ransomware in 2026. Hint: the louder threat isn’t the bigger one.
A new generation of operators has dropped encryption entirely — they steal the data and threaten to leak it without ever locking a single file. Here’s why that model is winning.
Bulletproof hosting providers — the ones that ignore abuse complaints and law-enforcement requests — remain a foundation of the cybercrime stack. Here’s where they live in 2026 and how the takedown calculus has shifted.
Mixer takedowns reshaped the laundering landscape. A 2026 view of where ransomware and fraud proceeds actually flow now — DEXes, cross-chain bridges, privacy coins, and the residual mixers still standing.
A 2026 view of the cybercrime economy by the numbers — ransomware payments, BEC losses, fraud volumes, and the structural trends that shape the next year of threats.
A practical patching priority list drawn from the CVEs we’ve actually seen weaponised in ransomware and initial-access intrusions during Q1 2026 — what they are, why they matter, and the order to fix them.
Three states, three approaches, one compliance headache. A 2026 comparison of California, Texas, and Florida privacy laws — what they require, who’s exempt, and how to comply across all three at once.
A vendor-neutral, jargon-free walkthrough of what EDR, XDR, and MDR actually do — and the three questions that decide which one your team should buy in 2026.