If you have noticed lately, we have discussed several ransomware incidents that took place in Canada. And it’s not just a mere coincidence. Canadian digital landscape has actually been experiencing an extensive ransomware activity for the last couple of months.
According to Canada’s Anti-Fraud Center, only five percent of ransomware attacks and losses are reported to the center. This means all those 95 percent silent cryptovirological victims try to deal with ransomware removal and system restoration on their own.
Even reported data shows a rise of more than 100 percent in ransom payments in a single year. In 2017, ransomware victims reported paying $20,000 to the attackers. On the other hand, in just first 8 months of 2018, victims have already paid $48,000 in extortion for ransomware removal. Keep in mind that these numbers only entail a fraction of ransomware attacks. One can take a rough guess of the losses incurred by all those unreported ransomware attacks.
Local government networks: the favorite target of ransomware operators in Canada
Municipal systems of small cities and towns have taken a bigger brunt of rising ransomware activity in the country. In just a fortnight, municipal administrations of Wasaga Beach and Midland Town have undergone cryptovirological attacks.
Ransomware payment: A bane for targeted entities
No one wants to pay extortion money to ransomware operators. However, it is also a reality that targeted victims sometimes have to take this undesirable route. The biggest reported ransom payment for this year is $5,000. This amount was paid by a Children’s Aid Society in Ontario that suffered a ransomware attack at the beginning of the year. The first major case of extortion payment following a ransomware attack was reported in 2016 when the University of Calgary paid $20,000 to the attackers for ransomware removal.
