RaaS vs SaaS
The average cost of remediating a ransomware attack for victim organizations exceeded $4.5 million in 2022, and this figure does not include the ransom payment, damage to brand, lost revenue from disruption to operations, increased cyber insurance premiums or other tangential costs.
Ransomware is one of the biggest threats to any organization, regardless of size or industry. The downstream impacts from a large-scale ransomware event can have massive fiscal fallout and real-world repercussions.
Traditional security solutions, while robust and effective for some threats, have clearly failed to protect organizations against ransomware attacks. There is a huge gap in protection and ransomware operators are expertly exploiting it to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars yearly.
Ransomware Operators are operating akin to a SaaS Organization.
Financially Motivated and Driven by Profits
Top-Down Corporate Organizational Structure
Partner Program to Expand Footprint
24/7 Online Customer Support
New Features and Bug Fixes Released Regularly
Leverages Modern Software Development Tools
So Why is Ransomware So Successful?
The ransomware game is profitable – highly profitable. In fact, if you were to compare P&L sheets from the leading ransomware operations against leading security solution providers, you’d see ransomware gangs enjoy operating margins that would make almost any SaaS provider envious. Ransomware operators are also better viewed as mature criminal business organizations with top-down hierarchical structures and diversified revenue streams.
The Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) business model also includes many aspects that mirror those of legitimate Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) models, including:
Organized like a SaaS company
The RaaS model mirrors the SaaS model in that the providers offer subscription-based services and software – in this case ransomware and the associated attack infrastructure. RaaS operators invest in R&D and talent recruiting to stay competitive, offer customer support to reduce churn, and maintain and are intent on growing their annual recurring revenue (ARR).
Efficient Marketing and Partner Programs
Like their SaaS counterparts, RaaS providers develop their brand and foster revenue growth through marketing. RaaS operators seek to offer competitive affiliate programs where they compete on the basis of platform performance and profit sharing with their affiliate partners, much like SaaS vendors.
Multiple Revenue Sharing Options
Established RaaS operators may offer several options, including one-time licensing for a flat fee, monthly subscriptions, or through profit sharing where the RaaS provider takes a cut of the affiliate’s ransom take. Terms of Service can vary between RaaS operators, so the services included are key competitive factors.
High Revenue, Low COGS
Compared to their SaaS counterparts, RaaS operators typically have extremely low cost of goods (COGS) and a high operating margin, which means that they are very profitable from the outset. In contrast, most SaaS organizations have low or negative operating margins and a high COGS and can take several years or more to become profitable.
The RaaS Ecosystem
The ransomware ecosystem has exploded in recent years with many stunning similarities to non-criminal emerging market sectors. This evolution includes the advent of specialists who focus on particular aspects of the ransomware economy who together represent the entire ransomware attack supply chain. Key players in the ransomware economy include:
Initial Access Brokers
RaaS Platform Providers
Affiliates and Partners
Crypto Money Launderers
Raas: A Buyer's Market
6,300+
active Dark Web Markets as of 2022
Largest 2022 payment:
$40M
Ransomware kits starting as low as
$10.05
Unique ransomware product offerings
45,000+
Average payment:
$570,000
Additional Remediation Costs:
$1.85M
What Orgs are Most Targeted?
$100M+ Revenue
Ransomware Volume of Attacks
Top 5 Targets By Volume
Most Disruptive Ransomware
Attacks in 2022
Top Reported Ransom
Demands in 2022
Growth in Ransomware Follows Growth in Security Markets
Total Victims Per Group in 2022 (Top 10)
Top Ransomware Group Revenues in 2021
Ransomware in the News
Here's How It Works
Ransomware protection requires multiple layers of defense, the risk of letting ransomware run rampant through an organization is too large to leave to a single AI or behavioral model. Halcyon uses several unique layers to stop the process of ransomware from completing its task, if a single layer fails Halcyon is able to respond accordingly. Even the best defenses can be breached by a persistent actor which is why Halcyon designed an autonomous isolation and recovery layer is a last resort to prevent the spread of ransomware across your company.
Ransomware Attempts to Execute
Ransomware
Deconfliction Checks
Ransomware
Owns the Asset
Ransomware
Completes Execution
Pre-Execution
Defense Layer
Anti-Detonation
Defense Layer
Behavioral &
Deception Defense
Recovery or
Autonomous Isolation
The Halcyon Platform
Halcyon is the industry’s first dedicated, adaptive security platform focused specifically on stopping ransomware attacks. Halcyon is built by attackers to stop attackers. The solution is a lightweight agent that combines multiple proprietary advanced prevention engines along with AI models trained solely on ransomware.
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