Posts by Mark Cyber

Vishing is a phone-based social engineering attack where scammers impersonate a trusted source, a bank, a company IT desk, or a government agency, to trick victims into handing over sensitive…

The National Public Data breach was a 2024 cyberattack on background-check company National Public Data (NPD) that exposed roughly 2.9 billion records, including Social Security numbers, names, addresses, and phone…

Vishing, smishing, and phishing are all social engineering attacks that trick you into handing over sensitive information. Still, they’re defined by the channel the attacker uses: vishing happens over a…

A phishing link is a URL designed to look legitimate, often mimicking a bank, retailer, or well-known app, but built to steal your credentials, install malware, or trick you into…

To report phishing, use the built-in “Report Phishing” or “Report Spam” button in your email client, forward suspicious text messages to 7726 (SPAM), and flag suspicious calls or websites directly…

Ransomware is malware, but not all malware is ransomware. That distinction sounds simple, yet it’s the source of most of the confusion around these two terms. Malware is the umbrella…

WannaCry is a self-propagating ransomware worm that infected more than 200,000 computers across 150 countries within four days in May 2017, encrypting victims’ files and demanding Bitcoin payments for their…

Ransomware detection is the process of identifying malicious encryption activity, precursor behavior, or attacker reconnaissance on a network before, or as, a ransomware payload begins locking files. It relies on…

The most active ransomware groups in 2026 are Qilin, TheGentlemen, DragonForce, Akira, and LockBit. This shifting lineup dominates leak-site postings even as dozens of smaller crews churn in and out…

Ransomware trends in 2025 point in one direction: attacks are more frequent, more fragmented across smaller groups, and increasingly aimed at industries that were once considered lower-risk, from manufacturing to…

Ransomware protection is the combination of tools, backup practices, and security controls that stop ransomware from encrypting your data and give you a way to recover if it still gets…

A ransomware attack is a type of cyberattack in which malicious software encrypts an organization’s files or systems, then demands payment, usually in cryptocurrency, in exchange for the decryption key.…