How To Detect and Stop a Ransomware Attack

This Arctic Wolf–style report describes the evolving ransomware landscape in 2024–2025: rising ransom demands (median $600K), widespread double- and triple-extortion (reported in 96% of cases responded to), and primary initial access via external exposure (93%) and user actions (~12%). It details typical attack progression (phishing or exposed services → C2 and fileless persistence → credential theft and pass-the-hash/Kerberoasting → DCSync and domain compromise), highlights common technical vectors (external remote access, unpatched known vulnerabilities, fileless malware, LSASS dumps), and recommends defenses including user training, patching, endpoint security, identity controls (MFA), holistic visibility, managed detection and response, and incident response retainers.