Analysis of case studies on cyber attacks and proposed methods for their prevention

The last few years have brought about a tremendous increase in the speed of technological advancement and digitalisation which led to an exponential uptick in the amount of data that is being either stored or moved across the cyberspace. This data, either under the ownership of a company operating in the private sector, or of a public sector organization, has become a priority target for malicious actors. From actors that operate under the alleged guise of financially motivated reasons such as ransomware operators to nation state threat groups and politically motivated actors that engage in hacktivist campaigns, an important certainty is that confidential data has become a top priority target for the various types of malicious actors operating across the cyber threat spectrum. Whether it is being sold to the highest bidder, released for free or used in the context of nation state affairs, confidential data became a high-value resource which, in combination with the increasingly complex and politically charged international context of the last few years, has brought about an uptick in number of cyber operations that could be classified as espionage. The aim of this paper is to present a study showcasing the various ways in which data theft, as the main objective, can materialize through malicious cyber campaigns ranging from ransomware operations executed by documented and well-known actors, to malware operations executed under the radar by obscure malicious actors.