Given the fact that the average ransom payment was around $228,125 in 2022, it only takes a few successful attacks to make the service profitable for both the operator and the affiliate.Ĭybercriminals have also realized that they can make more money by executing human-operated attacks and targeting businesses directly. In the case of RaaS, some operators may also demand a percentage of the paid ransom. The affiliate may pay a one-time price for the service or pay a monthly fee to keep using the malware. Ransomware or phishing-as-a-service can be bought based on different revenue models. While some operators only recruit affiliates with advanced technical skills to make their chances of profit higher (such as the Circus Spider cybercrime group), other RaaS and PhaaS owners look for anyone willing to use their product and pay enough money.

They often present their product online, look for affiliates on dark web forums, and promote their product with elaborate reviews.

RaaS and PhaaS models are quite similar to the software-as-a-service (SaaS) business model: an operator develops software and sells it to an affiliate who can have little to no knowledge of coding and development – only in this case, the software is malicious.Īpart from creating the malware, the operators may also offer technical support to the affiliate and a step-by-step guide for launching the attack. A potential attacker needed to know how to code, develop functional sophisticated software, remain anonymous to the victims… Nowadays, the situation has changed and there are platforms offering ransomware or phishing-as-a-service to anyone interested in using these threats against someone or earning money through criminal means. In the past, executing a sophisticated cyberattack was far from easy.

Here is everything you should know to stay safe from Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) and Phishing-as-a-Service (PhaaS). Many types of threats have become available as a service, which makes it possible even for those without sufficient technical knowledge to cause cyberattacks.

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