'However, I'd doubt any kind of proof of concept working across "teh intarwebs" '
You can maybe get hold of a machine inside a "cloud" system, and then mount attacks from there...
There's a common misconception that a successful attack is performed with a single spectacular shove, and then everything is wide open - that happens mostly only in movies.
Deep and successful attacks are performed using a variety of techniques adapted to the target system.
Sure, if you write a ransomware you're going for the low hanging fruit, you're not targeting specific systems, you just unleash it and hope it will find systems it can break.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
