different types of exploits to go after user credentials and attack machines that aren't necessarily unpatched. we are now seeing the evolution of ransomware where they are trying to move from individuals to trying to infect entire networks. that's what we started to see and now we see the next evolution with this. emily: what should companies be doing to protect themselves? chris: make sure they are patching their vulnerabilities that they have been alerted to in their environments. the second thing is make sure they are updating all of their cybersecurity defenses. make sure that get the latest versions of software working, make sure they've got adequate monitoring. make sure they've got users on the alert for these kinds of attacks as well. users can be an important source of intelligence when these attacks happen. emily: why are ransomware attacks becoming so popular among hackers? chris: we believe a few reasons. number one, there is an opportunity in this case for the ransomware attack to monetize the attack in different ways. they used to just go after stealing sensitive information. th