Security News > 2020 > December > Ransomware in 2020: A Banner Year for Extortion
Ransomware attacks in 2020 dominated as a top threat vector this past year.
In October, the U.S. Department of the Treasury said that companies that facilitate ransomware payments to cyber-actors on behalf of victims may face sanctions for encouraging crime and future ransomware payment demands.
Cybercriminals this past year increasingly relied on a ransomware tactic, called "Double extortion," where they increasingly inflict more pain on ransomware victims by threatening to leak compromised data or use it in future spam attacks, if ransom demands aren't met.
Double extortion first emerged in late 2019 by Maze operators - but has been rapidly adopted over the past year by various cybercriminals behind the Clop, DoppelPaymer and Sodinokibi ransomware families, who have set up websites as a way to leak data when their ransom demands were not met.
Overall, COVID-19 reshaped the ransomware landscape and how organizations were affected by ransomware.