The purpose of ransomware Ransomware, a phenomenon now very well known, serves one ultimate and obvious purpose: Monetary gain for the cybercriminal(s). However, multiple scenarios are, in fact, possible. Consider any and all of the following: Deployed as ransomware, extortion; Deployed as smokescreen; Deployed to cause frustration; Deployed out of frustration; Deployed as a cover-up; Deployed as a penetration test or user awareness training; Deployed as a means of disruption and/or destruction. Lets go over all of these briefly: Deployed as ransomware, extortion This has been the traditional approach - ransomware is installed on the victims machine, and its only purpose is to create income for the cybercriminal(s). In fact, ransomware is simple extortion, but via digital means. I could give 100s, if not 1000s of links as example, but this search query should suffice and show the current boom or trend in the cybercriminal landscape: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/search/?q=ransomware...