Ransomware isn’t going anywhere… in fact, it’s only growing. As several studies show, the threat of ransomware associated with attacks like phishing and APTs is only increasing, and hacking groups are leveraging ransoms to generate significant revenue while also threatening proprietary data.
The latest threat, the Rhysida malware, is just the latest of these threats tearing through the healthcare and financial industry.
Ransomware is one of the most significant security threats and perhaps one of the most recognizable threats in modern cybersecurity. These attacks cost businesses millions of dollars and can result in the loss of massive volumes of mission-critical information that supports business operations, national infrastructure, or government agencies. As part of the Cybersecurity Framework, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has released a new internal report known as the “Ransomware Report” (NISTIR 8374) to aid agencies and companies in resisting these threats.
Major infrastructure in the United States is under attack. As more heavy industrial companies, defense contractors and government agencies increasingly rely on cloud platforms and IT solutions to serve their users and constituents, hackers are finding ways to leverage vulnerabilities and steal information.
The problem with these attacks is that they are taking advantage of the fact that a flaw in a cloud platform can undermine security with a completely unrelated company or industry. As we’ve learned from the SolarWinds hack, the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack and now the LineStar attack, a single flaw in a cloud platform can open up critical energy production and manufacturing operations to being held hostage for millions of dollars in ransom.
Ransomware isn’t just a consumer issue. Here, we cover the state of ransomware in 2021 and how different organizations are responding to the problem.