Cyber security talks: A content analysis of online discussions on ransomware

In recent years, an increasing number of businesses and private users have been confronted with ransomware. Cybercriminals are realising the profitability of this type of attack, as many victims tend to give in to the fear of losing all of their data and end up paying the ransom. This is often due to the fact that they do not have a back-up of their data, leaving the only existent copy in the hands of malicious actors. While companies and government agencies have been publishing reports about this type of malware, there is a significant body of knowledge available through public information security forums, where experts tend to share their experiences and expertise. These web discussions often provide details and in-depth advice that respondents might refuse to share in surveys or face-to-face interviews. Adopting a content analysis approach, this paper aims to gather information on how ransomware works and how to prepare for it, through a scrutiny of experts’ opinions expressed on some of the most popular cyber security platforms. This study demonstrates that content analysis can play an essential role in better understanding rising challenges in information security, delving into wide amounts of open-source knowledge.