Modern ransomware attacks are not single events; they are weeks-long intrusions that end in encryption. Here is the full lifecycle, from initial access to extortion, and what defenders can do at each stage.

Ransomware did not start with Bitcoin. It started in 1989, on floppy disks mailed to AIDS researchers, and spent thirty years evolving into the multibillion-dollar criminal industry we know today.

Ransomware is malware that holds data, devices, or entire enterprises hostage until a payment is made. Here is what it is, why it works, and why it has become the single most disruptive category of cybercrime.