New reports find escalating ransomware threats

New studies by Verizon Business and NordLocker show fraudsters innovating at scale across financial and payments industry ecosystems. Chief among security expert concerns are the escalating costs and damage of ransomware attacks on public and private sector enterprises.

The 16th annual Data Breach Investigations Report (2023 DBIR) by Verizon Business, released June 6, 2023, found soaring costs of ransomware attacks in its analysis of 16,312 security incidents and 5,199 data breaches. Researchers advised enterprises to safeguard critical infrastructure by adopting industry leading protocols and practices.

The latest ransomware report by NordLocker, published June 7, 2023, shows significant changes in ransomware attacks, with the United States, Great Britain and Germany suffering the most from these malicious incidents.

Security best practices

Verizon researchers cited Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security (MANRS), a global initiative designed to provide crucial fixes to common routing threats that attackers are exploiting. As an active MANRS participant, Verizon is helping organizations implement industry best practices geared at helping to prevent cyber incidents for customers on its network.

NordLocker researchers urged service providers and organizations to protect critical infrastructure by implementing security best practices, including the following:

• Encourage proper file hygiene, encryption, and backups. File hygiene and backups can't stop cyberattacks, but they give the company leverage. Even if a company becomes a target for ransomware, the ability to restore data immediately will guarantee business continuity. And if the company keeps the files encrypted, the information will be unreadable to hackers.

• Encourage cybersecurity training. Investing in your employee's knowledge is the most cost-effective way to protect your organization from ransomware because 82 percent of cyberattacks happen due to human error. It should be organized regularly and have a holistic approach that includes every employee.

• Keep software up to date. Most cyberattacks either use social engineering to exploit the flaws in human nature or malware utilizing outdated software. Ensure everyone at the company understands the importance of keeping software up to date.

• Adopt zero-trust network access. Every access request to digital resources by a staff member should be granted only after their identity has been appropriately verified.

Evolving threats

The Verizon report additionally noted ransomware attackers frequently target C-Suite executives, many of whom have access to sensitive company data, according to Chris Novak, managing director of cybersecurity consulting at Verizon Business.

"Senior leadership represents a growing cybersecurity threat for many organizations," he said. "Not only do they possess an organization's most sensitive information, they are often among the least protected, as many organizations make security protocol exceptions for them. With the growth and increasing sophistication of social engineering, organizations must enhance the protection of their senior leadership now to avoid expensive system intrusions."

NordLocker cited the three most targeted industries in 2022 as construction (142 attacks), finance (120 attacks) and manufacturing (223 attacks). Aivaras Vencevičius suggested this change indicates threat actors are concentrating their efforts on specific regions or industries.

"We've noticed that finance companies have become increasingly worried about their cybersecurity," he said. "Companies are noticing an increase in cyberattacks in this sector."

Vencevičius further noted that financial companies were the sixth most attacked sector in 2021 but by 2022 had become the second most attacked sector. This dramatic shift highlights the growing threat to financial institutions, he added, and emphasizes the need for increased security measures within the industry.

A copy of the Verizon Business DBR is available at verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/

A copy of the NordLocker research study is available at nordlocker.com/ransomware-attack-statistics/

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