The title is pretty shocking. But, sadly, we have got some more shocking ransomware news and facts as ransomware is in vogue. Research shows that ransomware attacks have attained stratospheric levels in the second half of this year.
Some stats your way
- Eighty-seven percent of ransomware attacks were aimed at servers, network equipment, and computers. In Q1, it was 71%.
- Financially-motivated attacks accounted for a whopping 59%.
- In Q2 2021, ransomware attacks increased to 69% from 63% in the previous quarter. The most common targets include education, medical, government, industrial, and scientific firms and institutions.
- A report by Cybereason states that 80% of organizations that paid a ransom were targeted for a second time. Among those, 46% surmised that they were attacked by the same threat actor.
Why this matters
A successful ransomware attack poses significant risks to the top and bottom lines, irrespective of industry, region, or company size. Experts anticipate that ransomware actors may desert their partners and establish contact with distributors directly because of the increased crackdown by law enforcement. Lately, it has come to notice that REvil allegedly swindled its own affiliates.
Is that so?
Researchers have found a backdoor in some REvil samples, which might have enabled the gang to take over chats with victims and as result, rip off its affiliates of ransom payment cuts. This backdoor, furthermore, allowed REvil operatives to decrypt files and workstations.
That’s not all!
- Malware attacks on Unix systems, orchestrators, and virtualization tools have surged.
- The retail threat landscape has drastically changed as Magecart attacks have declined, only to pave the way for more ransomware attacks. In the retail sector, threat actors have now started going for direct financial gains instead of data theft.
- The industrial sector was not left behind in Q2. Ransomware accounted for 80% of the malware attacks against this sector.
The bottom line
The ripple effects created by a ransomware attack can destroy the very essence of an organization. Good risk management should be coupled with strong preventive strategies to avoid huge losses to reputation, customers, and finances. In addition to this, data backup solutions are highly recommended as they can make recovery efforts less painful.
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