Nearly every day a new headline about a security breach is reported. With businesses of all sizes and industries at risk. During the 2020 COVID-19 quarantine, phishing attacks increased by 350%. And worryingly it’s getting more and more expensive for victims of ransomware attacks to recover. It’s estimated that it costs over $84,000 for organisations to recover from a single ransomware attack, nearly double that of previous years reported.
Global findings also show that only 8% of organisations managed to get back all of their data after paying a ransom, with 29% getting back no more than half of their data.

It’s well documented that the pandemic, subsequent lockdowns and the increase in remote working  have massively contributed to the rise of ransomware, but outside of that there are some other key factors not to be ignored:

• It’s big business and it works

Research firm Chainalysis found a 311% increase, year on year, to the end of 2020 in the number of actual ransomware attacks. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry and is only showing signs of getting bigger.  Cyber criminals are getting more persistent, more sophisticated and more tenacious. I’m pretty sure we have all experienced an uplift in attempts in recent months, some cruder than others and whilst I’m pretty sure I won’t be arrested by the HMRC anytime soon, I still recognise that we all need to keep our wits about us. Today cyber criminals will use whatever leverage they can to increase profitability and success rates.

• Ransomware-as-a-service is growing

Pretty much everything can now be accessed-as-a-service and ransomware is no exception. This ‘as-as-service’ boom has allowed inexperienced cyber criminals to launch successful cyber attacks relatively easily. Essentially this subscription-based model gives cyber criminals access to already well developed, tried and tested tools to execute attacks in exchange for a percentage of each successful attack.

• Platforms are becoming more sophisticated.

Investment in the technology and solutions means that the platforms used to launch attacks are more sophisticated, cybercriminals can launch attacks faster and they can be harder to detect. Once an endpoint or device is infected ransomware can propagate extremely quickly and once data is encrypted it may be too late.

Ignition Technology has the vendors, expertise and support services that partners need to mitigate today’s formidable ransomware threats and increase profitability for your business.

Over the course of the next few months we will be sharing hints ‘n tips, campaigns and insight from our vendors to support your end users to stay ahead of the game.

Get started by heading over to our landing page to understand the latest ransomware tactics and meet the vendor solutions on the portfolio to help you win the ransomware battle in your business.