Ransomware continues to spread quickly and widely across the world, tightening its hold on the data and devices of both individuals and businesses.
Over the last year, ransomware has grown in sophistication and diversity. Kaspersky's Security Bulletin the evolution of ransomware, including key developments from the last 12 months, including the main trends and discoveries, as well as what measures are being taken to fight back against it.
A business is attacked by ransomware every 40 seconds
Attacks on businesses increased three-fold between January and the end of September, rising from an attack every two minutes to one every 40 seconds. For individuals, the rate of increase went from every 20 seconds to every 10 seconds. Overall, 23.9% of ransomware attacks are targeting corporates, up from 17% at the beginning of 2016.
.
A quarter of all users were attacked by CTB-Locker ransomware
Cerber and Locky arrived in the early spring; nasty, virulent strains of ransomware that are propagated widely through spam attachments and exploit kits. CryptXXX appeared a little later on, but established itself with the other two as a major player', targeting individuals and corporates. All three families continue to evolve alongside well-established incumbents such as CTB-Locker, CryptoWall and Shade.
.
42% of small and medium-sized businesses were hit by ransomware last year
According to Kaspersky Lab research, in 2016, one in five businesses worldwide suffered an IT security incident as a result of a ransomware attack. As a result, small and medium-sized businesses are increasingly struggling with ransomware attacks, with 42% of them being hit by ransomware in the last 12 months. Of those affected, 32% paid the ransom, but one in five never got their files back, even after paying.
.
The number of new ransomware modifications has increased by eleven-fold
62 new ransomware families appeared in 2016, bringing with them a vast increase in the number of new ransomware modifications: 32,091 in Q3 from 2,900 in Q1, an increase of 11-fold. Locky ransomware, a new addition last spring, has so far been spread across 114 countries.
.
One in five IT and education businesses was affected by ransomware
Social engineering and human error remain key factors in corporate vulnerability. One in five cases involving significant data loss came about through employee carelessness or lack of awareness. Some industry sectors, including education and IT/telecoms are harder hit than others, but the research shows that all industries are at risk; there's no such thing as a low-risk sector any more.
-
Managing NHIs in the enterpriseIndustry Insights Enterprise concerns about managing non-human identities create channel opportunities
-
Apple just released an emergency patch for a zero-day exploited in the wildNews Apple is warning millions of users of iPhones, iPads and Macs to update their software to protect against an out-of-bounds write vulnerability
-
Average ransom payment doubles in a single quarterNews Targeted social engineering and data exfiltration have become the biggest tactics as three major ransomware groups dominate
-
BlackSuit ransomware gang taken down in latest law enforcement sting – but members have already formed a new groupNews The notorious gang has seen its servers taken down and bitcoin seized, but may have morphed into a new group called Chaos
-
Google cyber researchers were tracking the ShinyHunters group’s Salesforce attacks – then realized they’d also fallen victimNews In an update to an investigation on the ShinyHunters group, Google revealed it had also been affected
-
Nearly one-third of ransomware victims are hit multiple times, even after paying hackersNews Many ransomware victims are being hit more than once, largely thanks to fragmented security tactics
-
75% of UK business leaders are willing to risk criminal penalties to pay ransomsNews A ransom payment ban is a great idea - until you're the one being targeted...
-
The Scattered Spider ransomware group is infiltrating Slack and Microsoft Teams to target vulnerable employeesNews The group is using new ransomware variants and new social engineering techniques - including sneaking into corporate teleconferences
-
Hackers breached a 158 year old company by guessing an employee password – experts say it’s a ‘pertinent reminder’ of the devastating impact of cyber crimeNews A Panorama documentary exposed hackers' techniques and talked to the teams trying to tackle them
-
The ransomware boom shows no signs of letting up – and these groups are causing the most chaos
News Thousands of ransomware cases have already been posted on the dark web this year
