Extortion for the masses¶
The cybercrime world has officially entered the gig economy—why be a lone hacker when you can franchise your chaos? Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) is the Uber Eats of digital extortion, delivering encrypted files and panic to victims worldwide, with minimal effort required. No coding skills? No problem! Just sign up, pick your target, and let the ransomware developers handle the dirty work—for a generous cut of the profits, of course.
Gone are the days of clumsy phishing emails (though they still linger like a bad smell). Modern RaaS operators prefer drive-by downloads, VPN exploits, and botnet-powered distribution—because why hack one machine when you can hijack thousands? Whether it’s Windows, macOS, or even Linux, no device is safe. And while mobile ransomware prefers psychological warfare (locking screens instead of encrypting files), the endgame is the same: Pay up, or lose everything.
But here’s the real kicker—ransomware gangs now pretend they’re the good guys. Take RansomedVC, who in 2023 leaked victim data while claiming they were just “pentesting” and even helpfully threatened to report GDPR violations if ransoms weren’t paid. Nothing says “ethical extortion” like blackmailing victims with regulatory fines.
Why RaaS is the ultimate scam¶
Low barrier to entry – No tech skills? No problem! Just point, click, and extort.
Profit-sharing model – Developers take 20-30%, affiliates keep the rest. It’s like MLM, but with more felonies.
Built-in deniability – “We’re not criminals, we’re… uh… security researchers.”