Ransomware breach

The volume of ransomware threats detected spiked to more than 1.2 million per month between the January-June period. A report from Barracuda identified in the past 12 months, analysed 106 highly publicised ransomware attacks and found that there is an increase in ransomware breaches. It also found that 82% of cyber breaches involved the human element, including social attacks, errors and misuse. It also found that 62% of incidents in the system intrusion pattern involved threat actors compromising partners. Secondly, increasing geopolitical tensions are also driving increased sophistication, visibility and awareness around nation-state affiliated cyber-attacks.

As we continue to accelerate towards an increasingly digitized world, the barracuda expert observes that the dominant targets are still five key industries: education, municipalities, healthcare, infrastructure and finance. Researchers also saw a spike in the number of service providers that have been hit with a ransomware attack.

Ransomware attackers remain defiant and continue to operate their business with extended extortion attempts. As ransomware and other cyberthreats continue to evolve, the need for adequate security solutions has never been greater.

As per the company source, while attacks on municipalities increased only slightly, the analysis showed that ransomware attacks on educational institutions more than doubled, and attacks on the healthcare and financial verticals tripled.

Many cybercriminals target small businesses to gain access to larger organisations. As a result, it is essential for security providers to create products that are easy to use and implement, regardless of a company’s size, said the report.

Most ransomware attacks don’t make headlines, though. Many victims choose not to disclose when they get hit, and the attacks are often sophisticated and extremely hard to handle for small businesses.

Dr. Deepak Kumar Sahu, President & CEO, VARINDIA