Ransomware attacks have increased drastically, and businesses need IT services to combat the upward surge. According to a report by Bit fender on the consumer threat landscape, ransomware attacks increased by 485% in 2020 compared to 2019. The number could go up in the coming years if businesses do not act fast.
Shift to Remote Working
Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, most employees have been forced to work from home. Those new to remote working are more vulnerable to malware attacks and phishing emails. Home networks are not as secure as those within the organizations we work for. This makes it easier for hackers to break into systems and steal valuable data. They then threaten to leak the data if the target business does not pay a ransom.
By now, most if not all businesses have information security teams that monitor devices for malicious activities. However, now that employees are working from different parts, it’s difficult for the IT security teams to monitor their devices, which places businesses at risk.
Ransomware Attacks Is a Lucrative Business to Hackers
JBS, a meat supplier in the US, paid $11 million as ransom after attackers shut down their plants. Attending a White House briefing, Alejandro Mayorkas, Homeland security secretary, stated that most organizations in the US had lost over $350 million from ransomware attacks in 2021 alone. In 2019, Travelex struggled with a malware virus and had to pay a gang of attackers a ransom of $2.3 million to get the virus out of their systems.
From these stats, we can see how hackers are making big money from ransomware attacks. Most businesses or organizations do not have enough IT services to counter these attacks, hence are forced to pay large sums to hackers to get their systems back and running. Any hacker with exceptional skills will want to engage in such attacks to get quick money.
Cryptocurrencies
Cryptos have played a significant role in the spike in ransomware attacks on businesses and organizations. Years back, hackers couldn’t make big money because it was tough to get it out of an international banking system. But today, most hackers are demanding a ransom to be paid in bitcoin because the crypto is hard to trace.
Some people have demanded a ban on bitcoin to reduce ransomware attacks, but this won’t slow down the hackers.
Final Thoughts
Ransomware attacks will continue to be a threat to businesses if nothing is done. Vitalpoints offers the best IT services to help you mitigate ransomware attacks and help keep your data safe. Contact us today so we can help you safeguard your business.