Most Of The Businesses Are Vulnerable To Ransomware

S Mohini Ratna, Editor, VARINDIA

Defending the enterprise amid the ever-evolving threat landscape has prompted security teams to deploy numerous security controls and processes in the quest to prevent business-crippling cyberattacks. CISOs and security teams are constantly trying to maximize the impact of their security controls and proactively manage their risk and security posture. Yet, teams struggle to understand if the many controls deployed are configured correctly, which controls will prevent, detect, or completely miss an attack, and how the controls will work together against threat groups that pose a risk to the business.

Cybercriminals may also carry out what is known as a Distributed-Denial-of-Service (DDos) attack. This is similar to a DoS attack but cybercriminals use numerous compromised computers to carry it out. Cybercrime that uses computers to commit other crimes may involve using computers or networks to spread malware, illegal information or illegal images. Sometimes cybercriminals conduct both categories of cybercrime at once. They may target computers with viruses first. Then, use them to spread malware to other machines or throughout a network.

There is an urgent need to understand the latest techniques, tactics, and procedures (TTPs) used by cybercriminals, including advanced persistent threat (APT) groups. We witnessed in 2021 the emergence of several new ransomware trends, including supply-chain attacks, double extortion, and ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS), to name a few. It is expected that ransomware tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) will continue to evolve and be leveraged to target unpatched vulnerabilities to gain access to organizational networks and inflict maximum damage.

The research suggests that 27% of the Executives and 40% of the Chief Security Officers (CSOs) have accepted not being prepared to handle the new and intense cybersecurity threats that are emerging. Staggering data reveals that India alone from Jan 2022 to June 2022 has reported more than 6,74,000 cyberattacks with an estimated 200% YoY growth in the number of attacks.

A report says, organizations failing to counter the immensely evolving threat landscape say that it is important, now more than ever, to understand the switch C-Suite has to make in order to counter the ever-evolving attacks against their organizations. They are failing in being prepared and taking action, due to their traditional approach towards the attacks.

Today, small businesses are increasingly under threat by cyber bad actors. They face the challenge of integrating cybersecurity best-practices into their very specialized operations. Small businesses and startups face a unique challenge in the realm of cybersecurity. There’s a lot at risk for the small organizations threat actors target. Not only is their potential to incur major financial losses, but are also dodging irreparable damage to the brand.

During 2020 and 2021, data breaches at small businesses globally jumped 152%, while during the same time period breaches at larger organizations rose 75%. Just like a contractor wouldn’t use the same tools, techniques, and tactics to dig a post hole as they would for a swimming pool – malicious actors adjust what they target to ensure they effectively compromise the vast landscape of small business.

Secondly, with the rise of mobile internet, over 700 million people have smartphones in India, and similar to other regions, they use them for work as much as for their personal lives.

Edge devices themselves, such as routers and firewalls are rather uninteresting, however these devices are the gateway that protect the soft underbellies of companies. Once compromised, it's the open doorway into the rest of a network that is enticing for the adversary to perform the same level of research a team performs. A report states, Data breaches have cost Indian companies an average of Rs 17.6 crore in 2022 so far. A cyber breach can cause huge losses such as valuable client data, employee records, intellectual property, and other financial details.

To combat these advanced threats and ensure an adequate level of preparedness, organizations employ multiple defensive processes, including manual and traditional testing activities such as vulnerability scanning and penetration testing. While these activities can provide point-in-time assessments, they cannot provide insights into an organization’s overall risk against ransomware threats, nor can they quantify the potential business impact of such threats or identify drift in security control configuration over time.
There is a need for a platform that safely executes real-world attack simulations across the cyber kill chain to validate the effectiveness of all layers of your security independently and at each stage of the attack process to strengthen cyber resiliency.