Two words that can run a chill down your spine - ransomware and phishing. Now, what if we tell you that ransomware emerged as the primary threat in the first half of 2021? Trend Micro researchers published a report with alarming statistics on the same.

Ransomware trends

  • The first half of the year witnessed over 7.3 million ransomware threats. 
  • The banking industry experienced a 1,318% year-over-year increase in ransomware attacks.

Ransomware attacks have evolved and their features differentiate them from conventional ransomware attacks. These include data exfiltration instead of simple encryption, RaaS models, online collaboration, double extortion, and APT-like targeting. In addition to these, modern ransomware actors resorted to triple DDoS attacks and quadruple extortion models to increase their chances of getting the ransom. 

The report also states

  • BEC attacks witnessed a rise of 4% as COVID-19 offered threat actors with increased attack surfaces and opportunities.
  • Cryptominers were the most detected malware, which was previously accounted for by WannaCry and web shells.
  • Around 160 malicious apps linked to COVID-19 scams were detected, among which 54% mimicked TikTok.

Tip of the iceberg?

Experts believe that while ransomware is on the rise, all the data just grazes the tip of the iceberg as many victims do not publicly report incidents. In addition to that, the Ragnar Locker and Grief ransomware groups have threatened to leak victims’ data if they contact law enforcement or data recovery agencies. This would further deter victims from reporting ransomware incidents.

Stay safe

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as being 100% safe from cyber incidents. However, luckily, there are state-of-the-art cyber defense technologies that can protect organizations and aid in effective defense against ransomware threats. Cybercrime keeps evolving and ransomware is in vogue at the moment. Stay safe.

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