Most Ransomware Incidents Start With Compromised VPN Devices – IA Magazine

If your network were a house, your virtual private network (VPN) gateway would be the front door, the garage door, and probably the spare-key-under-the-doormat all rolled into one.
It’s what lets employees, vendors, and admins pop in from anywhere in the world. Unfortunately, it’s also exactly what makes VPN devices one of the favorite entry points for ransomware gangs.

Recent threat intelligence and cyber insurance data say the quiet part out loud:
most ransomware incidents now begin with compromised VPN or firewall devices.
In other words, attackers are increasingly skipping phishing chaos and going straight for the remote access plumbing.
For insurers, brokers, and security teams, that’s not just a fun fact. It’s a flashing red “patch your perimeter” warning light.

In this article, we’ll unpack what the latest research shows about VPN-based ransomware attacks, how threat actors are breaking in,
and what practical steps organizations (and the insurance professionals who advise them) can take to slam that door shut.

Ransomware Has a Favorite Door: Your VPN and Firewall

Cyber insurance provider and active security firm Coalition analyzed thousands of cyber claims and telemetry in its
“Cyber Threat Index 2025” and came to a startling conclusion:
the majority of ransomware claims in 2024 began with attackers compromising perimeter security appliances such as VPNs and firewalls.

Coalition’s data shows that more than half of ransomware incidents they handled started with exploited VPN or firewall devices,
far outpacing other access methods like exposed Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), phishing, or drive-by web attacks.
Remote desktop products still matter, but VPNs and security appliances have become the crown jewels of initial access.

Insurance and risk publications such as IA Magazine have highlighted this trend, stressing how
vulnerable VPN and firewall appliances dramatically change the ransomware risk profile of an organization.
For brokers, that’s no longer an obscure technical detail; it’s a key underwriting factor.

From “Defensive Box” to Primary Attack Vector

Traditionally, perimeter devices were marketed as the hardened shell protecting the soft interior of a network.
Today, attackers treat them more like free real estate listings:

• They’re publicly exposed to the internet by design.
• They often run complex software and custom OSes that don’t get patched as frequently as standard servers.
• They frequently rely on VPN credentials that users re-use, share, or protect with weak passwords.
• They’re highly privileged: once inside, an attacker often has a direct path into the internal network.

Combine all that with the massive shift to remote and hybrid work, and you get a threat actor’s dream.
The more companies lean on VPN and remote access tools, the more those endpoints become the single point of failure for ransomware prevention.

How Attackers Turn VPN Devices into Ransomware Launchpads

Ransomware gangs aren’t reinventing the wheel; they’re just getting extremely efficient at abusing three big weaknesses:
stolen credentials, unpatched vulnerabilities, and the thriving marketplace for access known as initial access brokers (IABs).

1. Stolen or Brute-Forced VPN Credentials

Multiple threat reports and cyber insurance analyses show that valid accounts are now the number-one initial access vector in many incidents,
with compromised VPN credentials leading the pack. Claims and incident response data frequently cite:

• Stolen passwords from phishing campaigns, infostealer malware, or previous data breaches reused across services.
• Brute-force and credential-stuffing attacks against VPN logins that don’t enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA).
• Shared administrator accounts that give a single compromised credential outsized blast radius.

In several recent quarterly ransomware trend reports, roughly half of investigated incidents involved attackers using
stolen credentials to log in to VPNs or other remote access tools. That’s not “sophisticated zero-day wizardry.”
It’s someone logging in with the right username and passwordbecause they stole it.

2. Unpatched Vulnerabilities in VPN and Firewall Appliances

Of course, when passwords are a hassle, there’s always option B: exploit a bug.

Vulnerabilities in popular VPNs and firewall platforms have repeatedly been linked to ransomware campaigns.
Security advisories from agencies like CISA and the FBI have documented threat actors exploiting flaws in devices from major vendors and using them
as the springboard for data theft, lateral movement, and ultimately encryption and extortion.

Recent examples include:

• Critical vulnerabilities in firewall and VPN platforms that allow remote code execution or authentication bypass for anyone on the internet.
• Remote access bugs rated with CVSS scores above 9.0, making them especially attractive to ransomware groups and initial access brokers.
• Exploits that require no credentials at allmeaning attackers can compromise devices even if passwords and MFA are configured correctly.

When organizations delay patching these network edge devicesoften because they’re afraid of downtimeattackers happily fill the gap.
Some ransomware groups have been observed exploiting the same VPN vulnerability across dozens of organizations,
chaining it with backup server exploits and legitimate remote-access tools to maximize damage.

3. The Rise of Initial Access Brokers (IABs)

Not every ransomware gang wants to spend its time scanning the internet for vulnerable VPNs.
That’s where initial access brokers come incriminal middlemen who specialize in breaking into networks,
then selling that access to the highest bidder.

Recent IAB reports show that:

• Listings increasingly advertise VPN-based access alongside more traditional RDP access.
• Many offers include domain admin or high-privilege access, dramatically lowering the time it takes a ransomware operator to deploy an attack.
• Prices for corporate access often range from the low hundreds to several thousand dollars, a bargain compared with potential ransom payouts.

In other words, your unpatched VPN device or poorly secured firewall might already be a line-item in somebody’s underground catalog.

Why VPN-Centric Ransomware Attacks Are So Devastating

When ransomware starts with a compromised VPN device, defenders are at an immediate disadvantage.
Compared to a run-of-the-mill phishing email, a VPN-based breach often gives attackers:

• Trusted network placement – The attacker appears as a “legitimate” remote user coming through the organization’s own VPN.
• Broad lateral movement potential – From the VPN, they can scan internal networks, find file servers, virtualization platforms,
  and backup systems with far fewer obstacles.
• Longer dwell time – Incidents that begin with valid VPN access or appliance compromise often go undetected longer,
  particularly in organizations that don’t heavily monitor VPN logs and configuration changes.

Add double-extortion tacticsstealing data first, then encrypting itand you have a perfect storm.
Even if an organization has backups, data exposure can keep the ransom negotiations going,
increasing downtime, legal exposure, and costs.

Practical Steps to Stop Ransomware at the VPN

The good news: you don’t need a magic box or a six-figure AI tool to significantly reduce the risk from compromised VPN devices.
You do, however, need discipline, visibility, and a willingness to treat your VPN like the mission-critical infrastructure it really is.

1. Treat VPNs and Firewalls as Tier-0 Assets

First, mindset. Your VPN gateway should be in the same risk category as your domain controllers and identity providers. That means:

• Maintain a clean inventory of every VPN and remote access device, including test and legacy boxes.
• Restrict administrative access so that only a small number of trusted admins can change configurations or firmware.
• Segment management interfaces so they’re not exposed to the public internet.

2. Enforce Strong Authentication Everywhere

If your VPN doesn’t require multi-factor authentication yet, that’s priority number one.
Modern guidance from government agencies and industry groups is remarkably consistent:
MFA drastically cuts the effectiveness of credential theft and brute-force attacks on VPNs.

Beyond MFA, consider:

• Blocking weak and reused passwords using password filters and checks against known breach corpuses.
• Using device-based access controls where possible, so only managed and compliant devices can connect.
• Limiting high-privilege VPN access to admin accounts used only when necessary, not for day-to-day email and web browsing.

3. Patch Relentlessly (Especially Edge Devices)

Nobody loves firewall firmware upgrade night. But if you’re not patching these devices quickly, attackers are almost certainly doing it for youjust in the exploit sense.

To keep up:

• Subscribe to vendor security advisories for all VPN, firewall, and remote access products in use.
• Track critical CVEs affecting your devices and assign explicit deadlines for patching, measured in days, not months.
• Use maintenance windows strategically and build redundancy so one device can be updated while another carries traffic.

Many of the high-profile ransomware campaigns linked to VPN appliances could have been blocked by timely patching.
It’s boring. It’s operationally annoying. But it’s dramatically cheaper than business interruption, data loss, and ransom negotiations.

4. Lock Down Remote Access and Monitor Aggressively

Once you’ve tightened authentication and patching, focus on visibility:

• Log all VPN connections, including source IP, device identifiers, and authentication method.
• Create alerts for unusual patterns, such as logins from new countries, off-hours administrative activity,
  or impossible travel scenarios.
• Limit access through VPNs to only what each user or group genuinely needs, reducing the impact if an account is compromised.

Combining VPN logs with endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools gives you a much better chance of catching a breach early,
before ransomware is deployed.

5. Plan for the Worst: Backups and Incident Response

Even with strong controls, no organization is bulletproof. That’s why you should assume one day a VPN will get compromised
and ask: “If that happens, how do we keep this from turning into a full-blown ransomware crisis?”

• Maintain offline or immutable backups that ransomware can’t easily encrypt or delete once inside the network.
• Test your restore processes regularly so you know how long it truly takes to get business-critical systems back online.
• Develop and rehearse an incident response plan covering VPN compromise scenarios, so nobody is improvising under stress.

Insurers increasingly ask about these controls during underwriting for a reason: they directly influence the scale of potential losses.

What This Means for Insurance Agents, Brokers, and Risk Managers

For the insurance side of the house, the phrase “Most ransomware incidents start with compromised VPN devices” isn’t just a headline
it’s a signal to change how cyber risk is evaluated, priced, and mitigated.

Cyber insurers and reinsurers are already:

• Factoring VPN and firewall posture into underwriting,
  placing surcharges or coverage limits on organizations with outdated or unpatched devices.
• Requiring MFA on remote access and sometimes refusing coverage or renewals when it’s missing.
• Offering premium credits or better terms for organizations that adopt robust patching, logging, and segmentation practices.

Questions to Ask Clients About Their VPN Risk

If you’re an agent or broker advising clients, this trend gives you a focused, high-impact checklist.
Some smart questions to ask include:

• “Which VPN and firewall vendors are you using, and are all devices under active support?”
• “Do you enforce multi-factor authentication for all remote access, including admins and vendors?”
• “How quickly do you apply critical VPN or firewall patches after a security advisory is released?”
• “Do you monitor VPN logs for unusual behavior or failed login attempts?”
• “If your VPN was compromised tonight, how would you detect it and how quickly could you respond?”

The goal isn’t to turn every broker into a security engineer. It’s to translate technical realitieslike compromised VPN devices driving ransomware
into concrete actions that reduce claims and protect clients’ businesses.

Lessons from the Front Lines: Real-World Experiences

To truly understand why VPN-centric ransomware is such a problem, it helps to look at how these attacks play out in everyday organizations.
The following scenarios are composites based on real-world cases, but the patterns will feel familiar to anyone in IT or insurance.

The Manufacturer That “Would Patch Next Quarter”

A midsize manufacturing firm relied on a popular VPN appliance to connect remote engineers and their overseas plant.
The IT team saw several vendor advisories about critical vulnerabilities in the device, but patching meant downtime,
maintenance windows, coordination with the plant, and a lot of angry emails. The updates were added to a “Q3 project” list.

Attackers didn’t wait for Q3. They used a publicly available exploit to take over the VPN device, then created their own hidden admin account.
Over the next few weeks, they scanned the internal network, identified the file servers with design documents and ERP data,
and quietly moved laterally. When the ransomware finally detonated, production halted, purchase orders stalled,
and customers were notified about possible data exposure.

The company had cyber insurance, but the claim was complicated by the fact that patches had been available for months.
The lesson learned hit hard: “If a VPN patch sounds painful, try a factory shutdown instead.”

The Professional Services Firm with “Good Enough” Passwords

A professional services firm with under 100 employees believed it was too small to be on anyone’s radar.
Staff used a VPN client to reach internal resources, but there was no MFA in place.
Password policies existed on paper, but in practice many people reused the same password across email, social media, and VPN access.

After a separate consumer website suffered a breach, attackers tested those leaked credentials against the firm’s VPN portal.
Several logins worked on the first try. From there, the attackers targeted their document management system, exfiltrated client data,
and then encrypted critical servers over a weekend.

The ransom demand wasn’t enormous by big-company standards, but it was devastating relative to the firm’s annual revenue.
More damaging than the ransom, however, was the reputational hit: clients trusted the firm with sensitive financial and legal information.
Learning that an attacker had walked in through a reused VPN password was not a great look.

Post-incident, the firm implemented MFA, tightened password rules, adopted a password manager, and
began monitoring VPN access logs. One partner summed it up perfectly:
“We thought MFA was overkill until we realized our attacker didn’t need to be cleverjust lucky.”

The Organization That Caught an Attack Just in Time

Not every story ends in disaster. A tech-savvy nonprofit had already implemented MFA and regular patching for its VPN devices,
but it also invested in log monitoring and anomaly detection. One evening, an alert flagged repeated failed login attempts from a country
where the nonprofit had no staff, followed by a successful login using an account normally seen only in one U.S. city.

Because the security team had clear playbooks, they responded within minutes:

• They disabled the suspicious account and forced password resets.
• They temporarily blocked VPN access from the offending IP ranges.
• They reviewed VPN, firewall, and endpoint logs for signs of lateral movement.

They ultimately found that the attacker had only just gained a foothold and hadn’t yet exfiltrated data or deployed ransomware.
The incident still led to long nights and a full postmortem, but operations remained intact.
Their takeaway: “Catching a VPN intrusion at hour one is annoying. Catching it at day thirty is existential.”

These stories share a common thread: the VPN device is rarely the star of the security program,
but it’s almost always at the center of the incident review.
Organizations that treat VPNs as critical, patch them quickly, enforce MFA, and watch them closely
have a fighting chance to keep ransomware outor at least contain it before it becomes a headline.

Conclusion: Secure the Tunnel, Starve the Ransomware

The phrase “Most ransomware incidents start with compromised VPN devices” is more than a catchy title.
It’s a concise summary of where real-world attacks are happening right now.
For security teams, it’s a roadmap: focus on the remote access edge, and you can dramatically reduce your ransomware exposure.
For agents, brokers, and risk managers, it’s a conversation starter that leads directly to tangible, measurable controls.

You can’t eliminate ransomware overnight, but you can make your organizationor your client’s organizationa much harder target.
Treat VPN devices and firewalls as tier-0 infrastructure, enforce MFA everywhere, patch aggressively, monitor continuously,
and rehearse your response. Do that, and you’ll be far better positioned when the next wave of ransomware groups goes shopping for vulnerable VPNs.