The History of Ransomware: From Floppies to Droppers, and Beyond
summary
History shows ransomware starting in 1989 as the AIDS Trojan distributed on 10–15k floppy disks, encrypting files with simple symmetric methods and demanding $378 PO Box payment in Panama, which exposed the operator. Encryption evolves: 2006 GPcode introduces RSA-based locking, and 2013 CryptoLocker pairs strong crypto with Bitcoin adoption 2013, making payment anonymous. Delivery shifts from sneakernet to phishing macros, peer‑to‑peer downloads and multi‑stage pipelines like CryptoLocker + Gameover Zeus combining banking Trojans, botnets and later loaders such as Emotet/TrickBot.
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chapters (7)
- 0:00Introduction and speaker intro
- 1:46First ransomware in 1989
- 8:49Evolution of encryption methods
- 13:25Business models and monetization
- 16:15Delivery methods over time
- 21:10Modern multi-stage attacks
- 24:04Q&A and closing
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