The Backup Wrap-Up

The cryptolocker virus was the attack that turned ransomware from a nuisance into a full-blown criminal industry — and in this episode of The Backup Wrap-up, we break down exactly how that happened. W. Curtis Preston (Mr. Backup) sits down with co-host Prasanna Malaiyandi and cybersecurity expert Dr. Mike Saylor to trace the full evolution of ransomware and explain why CryptoLocker was the turning point.
If you've ever wondered how ransomware went from fake pop-up messages to billion-dollar criminal enterprises, this is the episode for you. We start with the earliest days — scareware attacks that did nothing more than frighten you into paying — and walk through the progression of encryption methods that made ransomware increasingly dangerous. Dr. Mike Saylor breaks down the difference between symmetric and asymmetric encryption in plain language, and explains why the move to public-private key pairs made it so much harder for victims to recover without paying up.
Then we get into the cryptolocker virus itself: how it spread through fake FedEx emails, why it kick-started phishing awareness training, what Operation Tovar did to shut it down, and — just as interesting — what the bad guys learned from its failures. We cover the role of the Zeus botnet, how Bitcoin became the payment method of choice, and why ransoms started out at just a few hundred bucks. We also talk about what happened next: the rise of data exfiltration, double extortion, and even triple extortion where attackers go after the victims of the victims.
Plus, we take a side trip into the LastPass breach and pour one out for the guy who lost his crypto fortune in a landfill.
Whether you're in IT, security, or just want to understand how ransomware works, this episode gives you the full picture.
Chapters:
00:00:00 — Intro
00:01:22 — Welcome and Introductions
00:04:11 — The Three Generations of Ransomware
00:05:01 — Scareware: Fake Attacks That Did Nothing
00:05:42 — Ciphers and Decoder Ring Encryption
00:06:38 — Symmetric Encryption Explained
00:09:25 — Asymmetric (Public-Private Key) Encryption
00:12:46 — Why Asymmetric Encryption Made Ransomware Stronger
00:15:44 — What Was the CryptoLocker Virus?
00:16:25 — Lessons CryptoLocker Taught Victims and Criminals
00:18:03 — Operation Tovar Takes Down CryptoLocker
00:19:54 — Bitcoin, Ransom Amounts, and Getting Paid
00:23:20 — Botnets Explained: Networks of Zombie Computers
00:26:22 — Recap: Three Phases of Ransomware
00:27:09 — Double Extortion and Data Exfiltration
00:28:01 — The LastPass Connection
00:28:47 — The Lost Crypto Hard Drive

A history of ransomware is more than just dates and names—it's the story of how criminals evolved from mailing infected floppy disks in 1989 to running billion-dollar enterprises that cripple entire organizations. On this episode of The Backup Wrap-up, I sit down with Dr. Mike Saylor, my co-author on "Learning Ransomware Response and Recovery," to trace this evolution from the AIDS Trojan to today's sophisticated double extortion attacks.
We talk about how ransomware went from requiring physical distribution to scaling globally through the internet, how cryptocurrency made anonymous payment possible, and why the shift from tape to disk backups created vulnerabilities that attackers now exploit first. You'll learn about the wild west days when IT focused on building systems without understanding how bad guys attack, the emergence of ransomware-as-a-service that democratized cybercrime, and why modern attacks target your backups before encrypting your production systems.
If you've ever wondered why backup immutability matters or how we got to a point where ransomware is inevitable rather than hypothetical, this episode connects those dots. Dr. Mike and I also discuss why having backups is still critical even with double extortion threats, and what you need to know about defending your backup systems in today's threat environment.
Chapter Markers:
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:19 - Welcome and Guest Introduction
00:02:19 - Curtis's First Ransomware Memory
00:03:40 - The AIDS Trojan: First Ransomware (1989)
00:04:42 - The Wild West Era: Late 1990s Security
00:08:05 - Y2K and Budget Shifts
00:11:26 - The Transition from Tape to Disk Backups
00:15:45 - How Disk Backups Created Vulnerabilities
00:19:30 - The Rise of Cryptolocker and Bitcoin
00:23:15 - Ransomware as a Service Emerges
00:27:40 - WannaCry and NotPetya
00:31:20 - Double Extortion: The Game Changer
00:35:10 - Why Backups Still Matter
00:37:55 - Should You Just Pay the Ransom?
00:40:01 - Defending Your Backup System

Understanding how ransomware works is critical for anyone responsible for protecting their organization's data. In this episode of The Backup Wrap-up, we examine the five core objectives that drive nearly every ransomware attack - from initial access through the final ransom note delivery.
I'm joined by my co-author Dr. Mike Saylor as we kick off what's going to be a comprehensive series on our new book, "Learning Ransomware Response and Recovery." We start at the beginning: how do these attackers even get in? Mike breaks down the role of initial access brokers (IABs) - the bad guys who specialize in harvesting and selling credentials. We talk about why email phishing remains the cheapest and most statistically reliable attack vector, even with all our defenses.
From there, we walk through lateral movement and reconnaissance. Once attackers are inside your network, they're not sitting idle. They're mapping your environment, identifying your crown jewels, and figuring out where your backups live. The "phone home" phase establishes command and control, letting attackers coordinate their activities and receive instructions.
We dig into data exfiltration and the rise of double extortion. It's not enough anymore to just encrypt your data - attackers are stealing it first, threatening to publish it even if you can restore from backups. Mike shares some fascinating details about how sophisticated ransomware can be, including variants that examine file headers rather than just extensions to find valuable targets.
The encryption phase itself is resource-intensive, and Mike explains why you might actually notice your computer acting weird if you're paying attention. Your mouse hesitates, typing lags, the network slows down - these are all potential warning signs.
Finally, we cover how ransom notes are delivered today. Spoiler: it's not the old-school desktop background takeover anymore. Modern ransomware drops text files in every folder it touches, making sure you can't miss the message.
This episode sets the foundation for understanding how ransomware works, which is the first step in defending against it and recovering when prevention fails.

Disk backup security is the weak link that ransomware attackers exploit every day—and most backup admins don't even realize it. In this episode, Curtis and Prasanna examine how the move from tape to disk-based backups created an unintended security gap that threat actors now target as their first priority.
The transition to disk brought real benefits: deduplication made storage affordable, replication eliminated the "man in a van" for offsite copies, and backup verification became practical. But disk backup security wasn't part of the original architecture. When backups lived on tape, physical access was required to destroy them. Disk backups sitting in E:\backups can be wiped out with a single command.
Threat actors figured this out fast. After gaining initial access, the first thing they do is identify and eliminate your backups. No backups means no recovery—which means you pay the ransom.
Curtis and Prasanna discuss the history of how we got here, why backups are now the number one target, and practical solutions including obfuscation, getting backups out of user space, and implementing truly immutable storage. The standard is simple: if you can't delete the backups, they can't delete the backups.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - Episode intro
1:24 - Welcome & introductions
4:04 - Tape explained for the modern audience
9:07 - Why tape got faster (and problematic)
10:54 - The shoe-shining problem
12:27 - Deduplication changes everything
15:35 - Benefits of disk-based backup
20:29 - THE PROBLEM: RM -r / DEL .
23:43 - Backups are the #1 ransomware target
26:26 - Immutability as the solution
27:32 - Book: Learning Ransomware Response & Recovery

What is ransomware, and why does it remain the number one threat to businesses of all sizes? In this episode of The Backup Wrap-up, W. Curtis Preston and Prasanna Malaiyandi break down the fundamentals of ransomware attacks and explain why the question "what is ransomware" still gets searched tens of thousands of times each month.
We cover the two main types of ransomware attacks: traditional encryption-based attacks where hackers lock your data and demand payment, and the newer double extortion model where attackers steal your sensitive information before encrypting it—then threaten to publish everything if you don't pay.
Our hosts share real-world examples including the Sony hack, the Costa Rica government attack, and the massive Jaguar Land Rover breach that cost over $2.5 billion. Whether you're a Fortune 500 company or a small dental office, this episode explains what is ransomware, why you're a target, and why preparation is your best defense.