Theransomware attacks on high-profile targets such as corporations, governmentagencies and municipal organisations globally increased by a whopping 767 percent in one year (from 2019 to 2020), according to a new report.
Targetedransomware attacks have become a major concern globally in the past few years,especially for organisations and businesses in the APAC region, especiallyIndia.
"Atleast 61 entities from the region were breached by a targeted ransomware groupin 2020. Australia and India being the top two countries that logged thehighest number of incidents across APAC," said Chris Connell, ManagingDirector, Kaspersky (APAC).
Theincrease in targeted ransomware occurred alongside a 29 per cent decrease inthe overall number of users affected by any kind of ransomware, with WannaCrystill being the most frequently encountered family, according to cyber securityfirm Kaspersky.
Targetedransomware attacks involve significantly more sophistication (networkcompromise, reconnaissance and persistence, or lateral movement) and a muchlarger payout.
From2019 to 2020, the number of users encountering targeted ransomware increased byaround 767 per cent.
Theransomware family most frequently encountered by users is still WannaCry, theransomware Trojan that first appeared in 2017 and led to damages of at least $4billion across 150 countries.
Nearly22 per cent of the users that encountered ransomware in 2019 encountered WannaCry,but this decreased to 16 per cent in 2020.
"We'llmost likely see fewer and fewer widespread campaigns targeting everyday users.Of course, that's not to say users aren't still vulnerable," said FedorSinitsyn, security expert at Kaspersky.