Global ransomware attacks have shot up by 148% through the third quarter of this year, putting 2021 as the most costly and dangerous on record for the ransomware threat.

ransomware

The data has been released by ransomware intelligence firm, SonicWall, which logged 495 such attacks this year to date.

This month, the current U.S. administration hosted a global ransomware summit to pledge ‘all national tools’ to stop cyberattacks on critical sectors. Leading governments, including the UK, India, Australia, Germany and France, as well as the European Union, were in attendance.

The latest research now confirms leaders have cause for concern.

SonicWall President and CEO Bill Conner, said:

“As we see it, ransomware is on a nearly unimaginable upward trend, which poses a major risk to businesses, service providers, governments and everyday citizens.

“The real-world damage caused by these attacks is beyond anecdotal at this point. It’s a serious national and global problem that has already taken a toll on businesses and governments everywhere. I’m hopeful that the recent global ransomware summit is the next step toward a greater response at global, national and state levels.”

Ransomware continues to grow

2021 has been the most active year for ransomware on record, and is showing no sign of slowing. After posting a ground-breaking high in June (78.4 million), these malicious attacks continue to see aggressive growth in Q3.

SonicWall Vice President of Platform Architecture Dmitriy Ayrapetov, said:

“The techniques deployed by ransomware actors have evolved well beyond the smash-and-grab attacks from just a few years ago. Today’s cybercriminals demonstrate deliberate reconnaissance, planning and execution to surgically deploy toolchains targeting enterprise and government infrastructure. This results in larger victims and leads to higher ransoms.”

With 190.4 million ransomware attempts in Q3 alone, this makes it the highest quarter ever recorded, nearly eclipsing the 195.7 million total ransomware attempts logged during the first three quarters of 2020.

“While the world has been attempting to return to normal in a stop-and-go fashion, cybercriminals have never let up, driving ransomware campaigns to record numbers through the first three quarters of 2021,” said Conner.

“These criminal organisations will continue to launch highly sophisticated cyberattacks that are designed to target organizations and business with weak or lax security controls.”

Despite movements to secure cyber infrastructures from respective national governments, the U.K. has seen a 233% surge in the number of ransomware attacks, and the U.S. has witnessed a 127% year-to-date increase.

“As long as organizations continue to overlook or fail to implement cybersecurity best practices to reduce their attack surface, ransomware groups will only increase investments in time, resources and money for launching campaigns that result in massive pay-outs,” said Ayrapetov.

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