The History of Ransomware

This report provides a concise history and current landscape of ransomware, describing its origins (AIDS Trojan), key evolutionary milestones (RSA-based strains, CryptoLocker, RaaS), major global incidents (WannaCry, NotPetya, MOVEit/CL0P), and modern tactics such as data exfiltration, leak sites, initial access brokers, big-game hunting, and multi-pronged extortion strategies that continue to drive high-impact attacks against organizations.