We Don’t Negotiate
The United States government has been known to take a stand of ‘we don’t negotiate with terrorists’ when it comes to discussions of ransom. Whether this has 100% certainty to it can be argued in more ways than we care to discuss here.
It Was to Be Expected
We knew that any type of newsworthy topic was going to give cybercriminals so much opportunity – and COVID-19 gave them so much bang for the buck. Just because this was something affecting the world in a detrimental way would never be reason enough for hackers to take a break. They were going to take full advantage of the situation regardless of how much worse it could make things for people during their time of need or vulnerability.
Dark Economy
“This pandemic is great for my business!” said very few people.
Unless you’re a hacker. And then it’s likely that business is booming. We don’t think of cybercriminals as businesspeople. We tend to think they are individuals lurking about in hoodies in their basement. Quite the opposite – or so we have found through investigations and the exposure of organizations that steal our information. These are well organized and structured businesses that thrive – or fail – within their own economies.
Scare Tactics
It should hardly come as a surprise to anyone that cybercriminal activity has surged in 2020. By May of this year, the number of reported attacks had already come close to the total for 2019 according to the federal government.
With the onset of COVID-19, there were a plethora of new opportunities for cybercriminals to take advantage of our uncertainties, fears, and overall lack of knowledge about this virus and how it was spreading.
Small Business, Big Risk
There is no way to emphasize enough, just how important it is for small businesses to be prepared for a cyberattack. But according to a recent survey by the Wall Street Journal Pro Research of 400 companies and their security officers, many companies are not taking it seriously enough to improve their readiness and risk of exposure.
Double Rewards – The Rise in Ransom Payments
The rate at which data breaches are occurring is on the rise, this we know. But another corresponding rate on the rise is the dollar amounts that are being paid out in a ransomware attack. That number has risen by 104% for the fourth quarter of 2019. With an average of $84,000 being paid by victims in the last quarter of 2019, organizations are likely wishing for “the good old days” when they could get by with paying $41,198 just over a year ago. Of course, paying the ransom is not recommended by security experts.
Ransomware Attacks up 105% in Q1 of 2019
Ransomware Is Not Randomware
Gone are the days where you “might know” someone who has, or will, come under attack to a ransomware attack. The skyrocket in cases has come in at a 105% increase according to Beazley Breach Response (BBR) Services team which compared numbers against their 2018 data.
City Takeovers with RobbinHood Ransomware
RobbinHood – the Not so Heroic New Outlaw
Stealing from the rich to give to the poor – in theory, the original Robin Hood had good intentions. There’s a new generation of him and his not so merry men and in this adaption, the takeovers are far less charitable. Using malware instead of arrows, this band of hackers is taking down networks one at a time.
10 Ways to Safeguard Your Organization Against Ransomware
Remember ransomware, the malicious software that blocks computer access until a ransom demand is paid? The threat was huge and dominated headlines in the past but seems to have slowed down in recent months. Could the decline in publications citing ransomware as the cause of a data breach or loss of data indicate that cybercriminals have given up on dishing out the malware that locks your system or files until a ransom is paid? The answer is no, not even close.
Ransomware wreaks havoc on towns across the U.S.
Ransomware should be a concern for everyone, from small businesses to large corporations, although the likelihood of suffering from an attack may be dependent on various factors. Cybercriminals often select targets they believe to have the most attractive data and will likely respond quickly to their ransom demands, as well as targets who may have poorly trained employees and overall weak security. Unfortunately, towns across the U.S. are learning the hard way that their municipal systems are just as vulnerable to an attack as any other entity.