A latest report from tech giant IBM indicates that ransomware attacks are replacing data breaches. Analysis of the last year’s cyber attacks from their X-force reveals that the cases of data breaches dropped by one-fourth in 2017. However, this reduction of data breaches is as such not good news because it has been replaced by the prevalence of ransomware attacks.
So, why are criminals moving from stealing to locking and deletion of data?
According to experts, the development of NotPetya, WannaCry and other such ransomware codes have made these cryptovirological attacks popular among cybercriminals. Moreover, these malicious codes have given criminals an opportunity to make quick money by collecting ransoms for keys to remove ransomware.
Global lead of the X-force thinks the prevalence of ransomware attacks is equally alarming because the extent of losses of these attacks are equally damaging as data breaches. Moreover, the threat of ransomware is comparatively newer. Therefore, cyber security regimens of the majority of enterprises haven’t still adapted against this new threat, making them more vulnerable in the face of ransomware infiltrations.
Targeting Local Networks
Most of the well-known data breaches of the history were of global in their scope. But on the other hand, the most deadly ransomware attack to date is on the network of local government in Atlanta. Aside from Atlanta, some other local administrations in the US have also suffered from ransomware attacks. This shows that the scope of ransomware is different from data infringements.
In ransomware outings, cybercriminals mostly target different local systems (logistics, healthcare, transportation etc) to lock the data which is of great importance for their daily operations. It is indeed an effective cyber mischief to bring local entities to their knees to pay money for removing ransomware.
According to the report, a large portion of cyber losses ($8 billion) are attributed to ransomware attacks. These losses include the cost of downtime, payment of ransom and expenses on removing ransomware and other related recovery works.
This IBM report is a clear warning for every local enterprise to strengthen their security in the backdrop of ransomware attacks.
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