August 5, 2022

Latest Ransomware Trends for Businesses

Businesses are often targeted by ransomware and cybercriminals as they continue to try and find any weakness in your cyber security with the latest ransomware trends for businesses.

How will this latest ransomware trends for businesses article help you?

How much will ransomware cost your company?
How have ransomware techniques evolved over the time?
What damages can ransomware attacks cause?
What can a company do to prevent ransomware?

To combat various ransomware variants that try to reach your company every day, your company may need to employ other cyber security measures. Ransomware attacks hit 25 percent of businesses and there is an attack every 11 seconds according to Cybersecurity Ventures.

Despite protecting your devices against these cyber security attacks, you company can still be vulnerable to other types of cyberattacks such as unpatched systems and exploitation by malware. Companies need to address several cybersecurity risk factors such as poorly secured Remote Desktop Protocols (RDP), online services, unpatched operating systems, and outdated cyber security software.

Ransomware gangs often take advantage of outdated security solutions and the lack crucial protection layers. Toronto managed IT services will always take a layered approach to cybersecurity.

Make sure you choose a solution that has multiple cyber security layers and is powerful. Investments are also required for effective IT security. Here are some reasons to take ransomware more seriously against your IT security budget.

The cost of ransomware is increasing

Daily you will read about ransomware attacks and the latest ransomware trends for businesses.

The cost of ransomware damage has increased dramatically in recent years. Over 200,000 machines worldwide were infected by WannaCry ransomware in 2017. NotPetya, a ransomware-like virus, was released by the TeleBots group a few weeks later. Major banks, utilities, and telecommunications services were affected by the cyber security incident as well as irretrievably destroying data. A flaw in the decryption mechanism prevented even paying the ransom. Over $10 billion worth of damage was caused by NotPetya, the most devastating cyberattack in history.

Ransomware cyberattacks are not limited to big companies as Infrascale reported 75 percent of executives from small companies being affected by ransomware attacks and 73 percent paid the ransom to recover their data.

Economic and business damage is caused by ransomware. Data recovery costs of $10 million and lost revenue of $8 million were incurred in the case of the Baltimore administration that was attacked by ransomware.

In hospitals, universities, and airports, ransomware often targets vulnerable and misconfigured systems in municipalities, universities, and airports. Often, millions of dollars or even hundreds of thousands of dollars are requested.

Most companies turn to IT services Toronto to lower the chances of cybersecurity attacks.

Aggressive cyber attackers are on the rise

Cyberattacks have changed as hackers and cyber criminals have been innovative.

Spam emails were the main distribution channel for ransomware before it started targeting organizations. In most cases, victims were asked to pay a few hundred dollars to decrypt their data.

The cybercriminal attackers had to alter their strategy as it was not paying off. Misconfigured services and remote access are the targets of highly organized cyber criminals gangs. Each company is asked to pay a different ransom. Criminals also started negotiating individual ransoms. Botnets are delivering nasty ransomware packages faster and more efficiently.

Previously cyber criminals would deliver a short message saying you needed to pay $300 to a bitcoin wallet. You must negotiate the price for decryption with the cybercriminals who will leave simple text files on your computer. These landing pages are only available on the dark web to keep their operators anonymous.

Cyber criminals are aggressive but managed IT services Toronto provider can proactively address these concerns.

What are some cybersecurity trends for ransomware?

Ransomware attacks are primarily aimed for open ports including remote desktop protocol (RDP). Remote desktop protocol (RDP) has been actively hacked including Citrix VPNs exploits.
The demand for ransomware has increased. DDoS attacks are now launched against your website in addition to encrypting your data and stealing it.
Organizations will not be able to hide cyber security breaches as they now must report the names of the victims and the stolen data.
Print bombing is one method used by ransomware groups to increase pressure as they print ransom requests on all available printers within the company’s network
Cold calling by ransomware gangs has been taking place also using contract call centers to handle most of these calls.

Your company will be destroyed by ransomware

Paying the ransom is not the end of ransomware as you must account for downtime, loss productivity, financial losses, and disruptions.

Ransomware incidents have become even more dangerous due to the combination of data encryption and data exfiltration. The cyber attackers not only encrypt your data, but they also deny access to prototypes, company patents, research, or they will sell that information on the dark web. Your company may be fined for not protecting the sensitive data of its employees and customers.

What can your company do to prevent ransomware?