Page 185 - Cyber Defense eMagazine RSAC Special Edition 2025

How to Stop Infostealers and Next-Gen Ransomware

with an Identity-Centric Security Approach

By Trevor Hilligoss, SVP of Security Research, SpyCloud Labs at SpyCloud

Ransomware is the leading cybersecurity threat across every industry and a top priority for every Security
Operations Center (SOC) team according to the SpyCloud 2024 Malware and Ransomware Defense
Report. When focusing on mitigating ransomware risk, it's important not to overlook the growing threat of
infostealer malware (“infostealers”) – an often quiet precursor to ransomware attacks.

Our research has revealed that one-third of companies who fall victim to ransomware have experienced
at least one infostealer infection within 16 weeks before the attack – a crucial warning sign.

What is Infostealer Malware?

Threat actors use infostealer malware to infiltrate devices and steal any and all information that can be
of value – login credentials, session cookies, personally identifiable information (PII), authentication data,

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