{"podcast":{"title":"The Backup Wrap-Up","slug":"the-backup-wrap-up-758069","podcast_index_feed_id":758069,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/backupwrapup/","website_url":"https://www.backupwrapup.com","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/4670d4e3-81d6-4770-aeca-fe0331f5ce9e/IO00Uwof5u-hiUJElhkbBmKT.jpg","author":"W. Curtis Preston (Mr. Backup)","episode_count":355,"summary":"Formerly known as \"Restore it All,\" The Backup Wrap-up podcast turns unappreciated backup admins into cyber recovery heroes. After a brief analysis of backup-related news, each episode dives deep into one topic that you can use to better protect your organization from data loss, be it from accidents, disasters, or ransomware. The Backup Wrap-up is hosted by W. Curtis Preston (Mr. Backup) and his co-host Prasanna Malaiyandi. Curtis' passion for backups began over 30 years ago when his employer, a $35B bank, lost its purchasing database – and the backups he was in charge of were worthless. After miraculously not being fired, he resolved to learn everything he could about a topic most people try to get away from. His co-host, Prasanna, saw similar tragedies from the vendor side of the house and also wanted to do whatever he could to stop that from happening to others. A particular focus lately has been the scourge of ransomware that is plaguing IT organizations across the globe. That's why in addition to backup and disaster recovery, we also touch on information security techniques you can use to protect your backup systems from ransomware. If you'd like to go from being unappreciate…","last_synced_at":"2026-07-06T22:18:00.235096+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-backup-wrap-up-758069"},"episode":{"title":"Ransomware as a Service: How Anyone Can Buy a Cyberattack","slug":"ransomware-as-a-service-how-anyone-can-buy-a-cyberattack","published_at":"2026-02-23T11:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-backup-wrap-up-758069/ransomware-as-a-service-how-anyone-can-buy-a-cyberattack","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-backup-wrap-up-758069","url":"https://www.backupwrapup.com/ransomware-as-a-service-how-anyone-can-buy-a-cyberattack","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/b175becc-1640-42fe-9df6-533b24820c30.mp3","summary":"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 Servic…","meta_description":"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'…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2077,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-backup-wrap-up-758069/episodes/ransomware-as-a-service-how-anyone-can-buy-a-cyberattack/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-backup-wrap-up-758069/ransomware-as-a-service-how-anyone-can-buy-a-cyberattack.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}