E-Business
Preventing, Mitigating Ransomware with Cyber Situational Awareness
If you’re familiar with mafia movies then you’re familiar with extortion – the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats.
Extortion has been around for centuries – well before “The Godfather” or “Goodfellas.” Even cyber extortion, which extends this criminal activity into the digital world, isn’t new.
What is new, however, is the wide variety of methods that are used by the bad guys to get their money.
Three main tactics are behind cyber extortion: the threat of distributed denial of service (DDoS), the threat of data compromise and ransomware.
DDoS attacks are one of the most popular means to facilitate extortion. These types of attacks typically target business-critical websites in order to increase the likelihood of payment, usually via Bitcoin (BTC), and can have crippling effects on organizations.
In certain cases, such as when targeting hosting providers, the threat actor may add more pressure to pay by using the negative publicity associated with service downtime as a threat.
A second method of extortion involves the potential release of compromised data. This method is dependent on the fact that the target’s data has already been compromised.
The threat of its release to the public domain is used as blackmail in order to extort money from the affected entity.
A third type of extortion, and the one most often in the news as of late, is ransomware – malicious software (malware) that restricts access to the computer system it has infected.
The malware demands that a ransom be paid before restoring access to affected resources.
Ransomware can prevent access to many features of a victim’s machine, including files, applications and the operating system itself.
Because ransomware is an ever-evolving threat that can be more challenging to address than other cyber extortion tactics, let’s take a closer look at how it works and how to prevent and mitigate it.
At a high-level, the ransomware process is fairly standard. Files are encrypted and the attackers, who hold the decryption key, will only allow the target to decrypt the files after the required BTC ransom is paid. Specific details of the attack, however, will depend on the variant.
Until recently ransomware has been delivered most commonly via drive-by-downloads from exploit kits, or through spam emails that either contain malicious attachments or encourage recipients to visit websites hosting malicious content.
But we see that starting to change with threat actors using more targeted methods to achieve their objective, such as spear-phishing emails purporting to be from a job applicant or including the name, job title and job-relevant information of the recipient.
The disclosure that some organizations are paying the fee to unencrypt data likely provides further motivation for these types of attacks. In fact, when the actor estimates there’s a high likelihood of payment of the ransom fee they invest in more reconnaissance which can further increase the likelihood of infection.
As ransomware becomes big business, research on the dark web reveals a number of services being advertised to make it easy for beginners with low technical understanding to execute ransomware attacks with success.
Everything they need is available on a USB stick for $1,200 or they can take advantage of a hosted service in return for 5 percent commission on the ransom payments received.
So how can you combat cyber extortion? Cyber situational awareness can give you greater insights into the tools and processes used by actors that employ DDoS-based extortion and compromised data release extortion.
Advanced knowledge of the typical demands of a threat actor and their capabilities can help you make difficult decisions if presented with such a scenario and help you prevent future attacks.
Mitigating ransomware threats is more complex. It requires a combination of technical and process controls and company-wide engagement – from employees, to executives, to IT security teams. Cyber situational awareness can help you understand the infection vectors of the malware and apply the appropriate security controls to mitigate the risk of infection.
This includes insights you can use to raise staff awareness of how ransomware attacks occur and help you devise technical and procedural controls to prevent infection and to develop ransomware response procedures in the case of infection.
Of course ensuring that backups are maintained and are separate from the network can increase resilience to such attacks. In addition, several decryption tools have been released but, in the cat and mouse game between ransomware and such tools, their effectiveness tends to be short-lived; ransomware developers are continuously developing encryption methods to evade them.
As defenders, staying up-to-date with the latest trends and innovation can be hard, but it is essential in order to effectively prevent and mitigate the effects of extortion on your business.
With cyber situational awareness you can learn about the actors involved in extortion and their tactics, tools and motivations. With this knowledge you can more effectively align your defenses and make better decisions in the face of an attack.
Alastair Paterson, CEO and Co-Founder of Digital Shadows
National Office for Technology Acquisition and Transfer (NOTAP), has commenced the process of patenting and commercialisation of research works by universities and other research institutions in the country.
Dr. Obiageli Amadiobi, director general of NOTAP
Dr. Obiageli Amadiobi, director general of NOTAP, stated this in Abuja, during an interaction with journalists on her achievements since assuming office.
Speaking on the theme, “Strengthening Indigenous Capacity: NOTAP’s Drive for Technology Transfer, Local Content Development, and Innovative activities,” Amadiobi said the agency had involved both the academia and industry so that researchers can work on topics brought forward for commercialisation purpose.
“My minister is very intentional about this– very intentional about commercialisation of research results, which we have already submitted to him. They are meaningful researches, which we need to commercialise.
“We have established 69 intellectual property technology transfer offices in 69 universities that we are still counting. We have informed the vice chancellors of Nigerian universities to set up such offices and we will come and educate them on intellectual property and technology transfers.
“As we are doing this, we are also taking record of all the researchers of these universities and research centres and documenting them in a compendium.
“So, we have compendiums from the universities to us and we put them in a database. If you will recall, recently, the ministry, our supervising ministry, which is the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Technology, launched a programme titled Energise Commercialisation. This entirely was for commercialisation of all R&Ds,” she said.
On research Institutions carrying out research on areas of industry needs, she said, “NOTAP is bridging the gap between research and development with industry needs, “it is on our programme called the NITDF, NOTAP Industry Technology Transfer Fellowship. By this programme, we engage the universities and the industries, in what we call the triple helix. We liaise with the universities and the industries to sponsor, the industries will sponsor a Ph.D candidate in a Nigerian university to conduct relevant researches.
“They will provide the topics that they want researches for and such students will research on that with the assistance of the industries, because they wear the shoes, so they know where it pinches them. But usually, there are Ph.D candidates already established. This year alone, we certified about 15 of them to enter into this programme and they have gone into the various universities.
“And we are still looking for people to update some of the projects; the research topics we already have. But we are not getting enough persons to do the researches. So, we are going to do further advertisement to see if other candidates will come up.
Federal government has launched a drive to standardise operations across all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) through the nationwide adoption of the new National Digital Alphanumeric Postcode System.
Dr Bosun Tijani, minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, launched the initiative at a high-level stakeholder workshop on Thursday in Abuja.
The conference, themed “Embedding the Nigerian Digital Postcode in Public Service Delivery,” brought together key stakeholders to discuss the adoption of the system across government institutions.
Represented by Nadungu Gagare, permanent secretary of the Ministry, declared that the initiative was a critical pillar for the country’s economic and security framework.
“The Nigerian Digital Postcode represents far more than an improvement to postal services. It is a strategic national asset. Without accurate location intelligence, governments struggle to plan effectively, emergency responders lose valuable time, and financial institutions face verification challenges,” he said.
Tijani said the Alphanumeric digital postcode system was a pathway and a defining moment for Nigeria’s digital transformation under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
He said an accurate national addressing system would enable government agencies to plan better, improve emergency response, support credible census and elections, expand financial inclusion and ensure citizens were not excluded from essential services because of poor location data.
The Minister commended NIPOST for leading the initiative and urged MDAs and state governments to integrate the system into their operations, stressing that its success would depend on collaboration, interoperability, and nationwide adoption.
Omotola Odeyemi, postmaster general and chief executive officer, Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), explained that the digital postcode system creates a “common language of location” for the entire government.
She urged federal and subnational entities to integrate the infrastructure into their daily operations to maximise its value.
“Just as digital identity has helped to establish who a citizen is, this National Digital Postcode helps us to determine where services, opportunities, and interventions should be delivered. Its success will not be measured by the number of postcodes that we generate but by the lives that we improve,” the NIPOST boss explained.
Mrs Didi Esther Walson-Jack, head of the Civil Service of the Federation, represented by Dr Abdul Sule Garba, permanent Secretary of the Service Welfare Office, pledged full administrative backing for the rollout.
She noted that the civil service would be properly equipped to adapt to the data-driven system.
“The operationalisation of the Nigerian digital postcode is a strategic initiative that has the potential to significantly improve public administration, service delivery, and digital governance across the country,” Mrs Walson-Jack added.
The workshop featured live demonstrations and technical panel sessions focused on linking the new digital postcode system directly into national healthcare, social protection, education, and electoral planning.
E-Business
Kaspersky Warns of a Large-scale Campaign using Fake Free Software to Deploy a RAT via ScreenConnect
A remote admin tool ScreenConnect is being distributed through fake websites designed to mimic the official pages of well-known software products.
In total, researchers identified more than 90 domains spanning 10 languages, including English, Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, German, Portuguese, and Russian, enabling the attackers to reach a wide range of victims worldwide. The campaign targets both individual users and organisations using Windows.
After detecting an incident through its Managed Detection and Response, Kaspersky uncovered a large-scale campaign in which attackers used fake websites to spread installer archives disguised as popular software, including OBS Studio, DNS Jumper, DS4Windows, Glary Utilities and Bandicam.
To drive traffic to these pages, the threat actor also used search engine optimisation techniques to place them high in search results.
Across more than 90 identified fraudulent software sites, the same tactic was observed: victims who downloaded what appeared to be legitimate software instead received a hidden ScreenConnect remote administration tool, which gave the attackers persistent access to compromised devices and allowed them to deploy AsyncRAT, an open-source trojan capable of giving them full control over infected systems.
Domain registrations linked to this campaign peaked in February 2026; in 2025, the same attacker had used fake websites to disguise malicious installers as games.
Infection occurs through malicious archives containing a legitimate, signed Microsoft file, install.exe, alongside the install.res.1033.dll library. The DLL is loaded onto the device via a DLL sideloading technique and deploys a ScreenConnect service that awaits further instructions from the attackers.
“The campaign targets both users downloading free utilities from the Internet and corporate networks, where remote access tools are often allowlisted and granted elevated privileges.
“Its danger lies in its potential to facilitate large-scale credential theft and unauthorised access to systems, with the stolen data typically later resold on dark web forums,” says Denis Kulik, lead SOC Analyst at Kaspersky.
Court Declares Keystone Bank Staff Wanted over Alleged N35m Fraud
IMF Raises Concerns over N8.83 Trillion Unreported Spending in Nigeria’s Budgets
NOTAP to Commercialise University Research, Expands Patent Drive
FG Unveils Digital Postcode System for MDAs
BoI, NBCC Sign MoU to Deepen Bilateral Trade, Industrial Growth and Investment
Mobile Internet Gender Gap Widest in Africa – GSMA
London Strengthens Global Investment Ties with Africa @ First Ever London-Africa Business Summit
FG Targets Alleged N3tn Capital Flight, Opens Airtime Credit Market to Nigerian Fintechs
Japan, UNESCO Boost Digital Learning in 15 CoEs with Donation of ICT Equipment
Nigeria Launches FreeTV Nationwide
News2 days agoVerve Strengthens Global Acceptance Across Leading Digital Platforms
News2 days agoArmy Says Terrorists Now Recruiting, Raising Funds Online
Telecom2 days agoLebara Nigeria Becomes Member of GSMA Network
E-Business2 days agoKaspersky Warns of The Gentlemen Ransomware Group Expanding Operations with New Malware
Telecom2 days agoAirtel Nigeria Deepens Focus on Data Usage Transparency @ Customer Forum
Telecom2 days agoVitel Wireless Warns Public, Says it Not Running any Investment Scheme
E-Financial2 days agoBank of Industry Appoints Kuramo Capital as Manager of Dice Fund of Funds
General News2 days agoFG to Abolish JSS-SSS Separation Policy after 20m Pupils Drop Out