Ransomware as a service has turned cybercrime into a franchise business — and in this episode, Dr. Mike Saylor and I break down exactly how it works, who's buying, and why the buyer might end up as the patsy.

If you thought ransomware was just a lone hacker writing code in a basement, this episode is going to change how you think about it. Ransomware as a service means that today, literally anyone — no technical skills required — can pay someone to launch a ransomware attack on their behalf. You hand over the money, tell them what you want, and sit back and watch your crypto wallet. That's it. No portal. No dashboard. No login. Just a chat on the dark web through the TOR network and a prayer that they actually do what you paid for.

Dr. Mike Saylor walks us through the full criminal ecosystem — from the initial access brokers who collect and sell validated email addresses, to the botnet operators who rent out millions of compromised computers by the hour, to the affiliate programs that tie it all together. We cover the franchise model, the "no honor among thieves" reality of these transactions, and why the person who buys into ransomware as a service might just end up as law enforcement's fall guy.

This is one of those episodes where the more you learn, the more you realize how much the threat picture has changed — and why your backups are more important than ever.

Chapters:

00:00:00 - Episode Intro

00:01:17 - Introductions & Welcome

00:03:25 - Setting the Stage: CryptoLocker and the Birth of a Criminal Industry

00:07:17 - Defining Ransomware as a Service: The Franchise Model

00:10:36 - The Amazon/AWS Analogy and How Botnets Power the Attacks

00:17:10 - No Portal, No Dashboard: How Dark Web Transactions Actually Work

00:19:17 - Why Do RaaS Operators Offer the Service? The Lottery Ticket Theory

00:21:59 - The Affiliate Model: How the Criminal Ecosystem Specializes

00:26:33 - How Many RaaS Groups Exist — and Who's Buying?

00:29:36 - RaaS as Subterfuge: The Conti Group and the Costa Rica Attack

00:30:49 - Who Are These Criminals, Really?