What are the Reasons for the Global Surge in Ransomware Attacks and How Data Protection Services Can Help?

The U.S. and the rest of the world are currently in the midst of combating the COVID-19 pandemic and a massive wave of ransomware attacks. Both of these pandemics have actually partly closed down components of the economic climate. And according to the findings of Check Point Research, the number of organizations that came under the ransomware attacks has risen to 1210 in June 2021. Also, the same institute has stated that they have found a 41% rise in attacks since the beginning of 2021 and a 93% increase year over year. These figures clearly show, every organization must go with data protection services for cyber attack protection.   

The reasons for the hike in ransomware attacks could be many but the goal of all the attacks is same; hijacking of company’s data and other useful information to generate millions to fund the further illegal activities of cybercriminals. In a ransomware attack, cyberpunks make the use of destructive software programs to get accessibility to the secured information of an organization and then hold it captive until the target pays the ransom money. Read on to learn why cyber assaults are on the rise and how you can secure your company from these attacks.  

Why Ransomware Attacks are Mounting?  

There are a number of reasons behind the hike in ransomware attacks mainly in lax safety organizations but we are enlisting a few of the most popular ones here in this blog.     

More Fearless Cybercriminals:   

A few years back, hacktivists were playing emotional games for obtaining bank accounts and other financial institutions’ passwords. With those passwords and account details in hand, they used to utilize their technological expertise to take cash from individual's accounts. Today, they have become more fearless due to the fact that it is very easy for them to get ransomware software as a service. They can then use this readily accessible software to carry out their attack very easily. They have also improved themselves with advanced hacking strategies from online video-sharing websites, like YouTube.    

Some cyberpunks are also providing their solutions for an organization (established for hacking) for a charge, commonly to share the revenues. Moreover, the innovation of cryptocurrency has also made the hackers bolder, as they can obtain as much as they want instantly. With the privacy of bitcoin transfers, cybercriminals had found they can demand higher amounts from their victims because they know they can get away with that money easily. 

Execution of Attacks Became Easier:  

The execution of ransomware attacks has become easier with improvement in ransomware tactics. Cybercriminals use malicious software to poke around security holes or trick network users using phishing scam tactics like sending malware that seem to come from a trusted source. These maneuvers make them successful in carrying out their attacks. Additionally, black hats have also started to incorporate a new strategy in their ransomware tactic book i.e., double extortion.  Hackers are adding an additional stage to their ransomware attacks. Prior to encrypting the victim’s databases, the attackers extract a huge quantity of sensitive information and start threatening companies to publish this information if their ransom demands are not paid.    

Driven by fear, businesses are willing to pay a ransom immediately to avoid having their valuable data exposed. Moreover, the growing reliance on digital infrastructure and giving hackers more incentives make them attempt more breaches. Friendlier payment methods are also one of the reasonswhy their work has become easier.

COVID-19 is Forcing Companies to Work from Home: 

The outburst of the COVID has driven organizations to the “work from home” phenomenon. Most of the companies had no time to plan for this sort of change which is why it has turned out to be a double-edged sword. Although, this transform has some positive outcomes too, however, regarding the safety of the data; it has caused a great setback. The companies had no other option but to relax cybersecurity controls and IT policies to enable people to work from home. While this might have worked at one point, it hadn’t anticipated that cyber threat actors were preparing to exploit the resulting weaknesses. All in all, this transformation of working remotely has driven the rise in ransomware.  

Digitalization of Businesses: 

Another contributing factor to the escalation in ransomware attacks is the ubiquity of every other business’s reliance on the digital sphere for all of their processes. The advancement in technology has caused a spike in worldwide internet usage even above already high levels. Many organizations are changing their processes from manual to digital without coupling it with data protection services of a data recovery services provider for business security. Hiring these services are necessary because the digitalization of businesses opens up opportunities for threat actors to try a variety of different things (including phishing scams as a door opener) that eventually culminate in the springing of ransom attacks. 

Role of Infected Software Providers: 

Like you commonly see when a start-up takes off, its products become common everywhere, a little bit of that happens in the ransomware world too. If you look at the software used in different ransomware attacks, often it’s the same piece of software. So, it’s almost productization of ransomware. It’s kind of the same technology for a while and the same software being sold to different criminal organizations. After they carry out a successful attack with this software and they are paid ransoms, the obtained cash is reinvested in the business to launch more ransoms.  

You can ensure cyber attack protection by following these tactics: 

You can ensure safety from ransomware attacks by following these tactics: 

• Keeping backups of your important data.  
• Continually updating your systems and your software applications.  
• Downloading only from trusted websites. 
• Training your employees about ransomware attacks. 
• Using firewalls and endpoint protection.
• Scanning emails for malware. 
• Not clicking on unverified links.
• Not providing personal information when answering an email, unsolicited phone call, text message or instant message.

There is another more convenient and comparatively more reliable option and that is to hire data protection services of a data recovery services provider. To make your company invincible for the bad actors, you should hire the best service provider. We can assure you no service provider is as reliable as Best Ransomware Recovery. So, following the adage “prevention is better than cure”, hire our services as early as possible.