In recent years there has been a large increase in the sale of software for carrying out cyber attacks. This is ready-made software. The result is that a cyber criminal (in the making) no longer needs to master technical know-how to carry out cyber attacks. It has become almost as simple as pressing a button, like shopping in the supermarket.
“Malware-as-a-Service” (MaaS) is the term used to denote the unlawful rental of software for the purpose of carrying out cyber-attacks. MaaS servers provide attackers on the Dark Web with a paid service to distribute malware. It’s all done very professionally too. After payment, customers gain access to a personal account on an online platform and can carry out the cyber attack through this channel. If there is a need for assistance from the seller, this is also often possible. The developers of this software earn twice, by selling the software and by capturing hacked data. It is an illegal win-win business model.
These malware marketplaces are one of the reasons why the number of malware attacks has increased so much in recent years. Fortunately, there is a nuance: Because the software is used by amateurs without technical knowledge, mistakes are made more often. Also, the ransomware as a service is generally part of well-known, long-standing ransomware types, such as Locky and CryptoWall. So it is not (yet) unknown new forms of ransomware.
