In the old days, to be a cybercriminal you had to have some technical skill. This requirement limited the number of people that could get in on this lucrative criminal activity. Unfortunately, those days are over. Now, anyone can be a cybercriminal. All you need is the will and the lack of a moral compass. This is a big part of the reason why cybercrime has become the fastest growing crime in the U.S. and why damages related to cybercrime are estimated to reach $10.5 trillion globally by 2025.
How is it that the ability to hack into a business and hold its systems and data for ransom is something any fool with a phone, a laptop, and an Internet connection can do? The answer is the rise of Ransomware as a Service (RaaS). Today, almost 70% of ransomware attacks use RaaS.
RaaS is a subscription-based model where individuals with limited technical capability subscribe to already developed ransomware tools to pull off professional ransomware attacks. This is an adaptation of the Software as a Services (SaaS) business model. In the RaaS model, affiliates earn a percentage of each ransom payment. Ransomware developers are clever – they’ve figured out how to minimize their risk while also maximizing their revenue growth potential. With RaaS, there is no longer a technical prerequisite to be a hacker.
The point of understanding the RaaS phenomenon is to realize the pervasiveness of cybercrime and the fact that it’s inevitable that one of these cybercriminals will be attempting to get into your systems from every avenue possible – soon. So, what should you do? Well, you need to work proactively to prepare a defense. Luckily, the cybercriminal isn’t the only innovative and clever actor in the cybersecurity drama. The good guys have a Software as a Service business model to combat RaaS. It’s called Security as a Service (SECaaS) Now any business can take advantage of the most modern, sophisticated cyber-defenses without having a team of highly trained cybersecurity professionals on staff. Hip, hip, hooray for the good guys!
With SECaaS, automobile and heavy truck dealers can have a team of people with expertise in digital forensics, malware reverse engineering, incident response, and technical surveillance countermeasures protecting their dealership 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year – with no time off for vacations or holidays. Now, any dealer, regardless of size or budget can leverage the advanced cybersecurity defenses that were once only a luxury that the largest organizations could afford.
As a Dealer, concerned about the rise of RaaS, you should implement the appropriate defense which is Security as a Service specific to the unique business of selling and servicing cars and trucks.
