Ransomware has taken over the cybercriminal world in the last few years and there's no end in sight.

A lot of ransomware growth can be attributed to the one-two punch of exploit kits like Angler, Nuclear and Magnitude bundled up with ransomware payloads. This is especially the case with Angler, which is the top exploit kit in the market by a magnitude of about 3x. Cisco reports that 60% of Angler payloads are ransomware. Much of Angler and its ilk's success has been tied to their successful exploitation of Adobe Flash. In fact, eight of the top 10 vulnerabilities used by exploit kits last year were Flash-related.

About the Author(s)

Ericka Chickowski, Contributing Writer

Ericka Chickowski specializes in coverage of information technology and business innovation. She has focused on information security for the better part of a decade and regularly writes about the security industry as a contributor to Dark Reading.

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