Cybercrime economics

Attackers optimise return on effort, which means anything that raises their cost moves them elsewhere.

They are running a business with margins. That is why ordinary hygiene works against most of them: not because it is impenetrable, but because someone easier is one scan away. It also explains ransomware's shape, the double extortion model and the professionalisation of the market, all of which are responses to what pays.

Checked against the primary source.

More on Threat actors & ATT&CK