Ransomware Still A Top Cybersecurity Threat

A new report by Verizon revealed that ransomware is the most common type of malware, found in 39 percent of malware-related data breaches – double that of last year’s DBIR – and accounts for over 700 incidents. What’s more, Verizon’s analysis show that attacks are now moving into business critical systems, which encrypt file servers or databases, inflicting more damage and commanding bigger ransom requests. IT security experts commented below.

Chris Day, Chief Cybersecurity Officer at Cyxtera:

“Cybercrime is profitable and hard to prosecute. Potential pay-outs can reach millions of dollars yet criminals operate in near anonymity. Even if a cybercriminal is prosecuted, which is rare, extradition is even less common. For criminally-minded groups, there is far less chance of getting ‘caught’ in the cyber realm and then in traditional criminal pursuits.

“Ransomware attacks will likely continue to plague us for some time because they require little effort. Cyber criminals only need access to pedestrian tools to carry out an attack. Cryptomining, on the other hand, requires enormous amounts of expensive compute power to pull off. That’s why we see rising numbers of attacks where the target is processing power. “

Ricardo Villadiego, CEO at Cyxtera Business:

“The reason why we are seeing more phishing than ever before is simple: they still work very well. Because they appeal to the curiosity of the human, using clever social engineer tactics, they are still very successful. In addition, attackers use more advanced techniques, making it harder for humans to spot the attacks, which is why security standards like DMARC, can make a big difference.

“Organizations will not be able to mitigate phishing attacks if they focus on fraud losses exclusively. Their protection strategy needs to be comprehensive in nature and phishing is the beginning of many fraud schemes and data breaches. Fraud losses are the consequence. As we work with more than 3,500 organizations around the world, we see that relentless and comprehensive monitoring of internet threats becomes very effective. You don’t need to make it impossible for cybercriminals to impersonate you – just expensive, inefficient and unprofitable, as they normally go for easy targets. “

Sean Newman, Director at Corero Network Security: 

“Whilst other vendors offer different perspectives on the DDoS threat landscape, Verizon’s most recent Data Breach Investigation Report closely aligns with what we are seeing at Corero – DDoS attacks are not diminishing in quantity and they are not generally as large as most might expect.  However, they are equally as damaging!

“Although DDoS is not in the news every day, Verizon reported 21,409 attacks over the past year – almost 60 a day. Corero DDoS research, looking at a larger sample size of more than 100,000 attacks per year, observed similar patterns. In fact, many attacks are now coming from cybercriminals who are financially motivated. Therefore, it’s no surprise that most attacks are reported against the Finance, Insurance and Retail industries. For online companies where it is critical to have 100% uptime, DDoS technology which can detect and automatically mitigate attacks, in real-time, should now be a must-have requirement.”