Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

In the second part of our two-part series on the Conti materials leak, we assess what the playbooks reveal about the latter stages of the Conti attack methodology.

Did you know that nearly 560,000 new instances of malware are detected every day? As cybersecurity advances, threat actors develop malware with new tricks that exploit weaknesses in an IT environment. Once the malware finds a loophole, it spreads exponentially like a disease, corrupting files, exfiltrating data, redirecting traffic to other destinations, and performing other malicious activities. Malware can spread at a jaw-dropping rate.

Malware detection is an important part of the Netskope Security Cloud platform, complete with a secure access service edge (SASE) architecture, that we provide to our customers. Malware is malicious software that is designed to harm or exploit devices and computer systems. Various types of malware, such as viruses, worms, Trojan horses, ransomware, and spyware, remain a serious problem for corporations and government agencies.

Cybersecurity specialists have noticed several troubling trends over the past year, ransomware being one of the most concerning. While this is far from a new issue, it’s now more common than ever before. Every month in Q2 2021 set a new record for ransomware attempts, contributing to a 151% year-over-year increase compared to 2020. Cybercrime has risen in the past year, but ransomware attacks are outpacing other forms.

According to FBI Director, Christopher Wray, when it comes to ransomware disruption and prevention, “...there’s a shared responsibility, not just across government agencies but across the private sector and even the average American.” At Elastic, we’re here to help state and local governments. Ransomware attacks cost the U.S. government more than $18.9 billion in 2020 alone.

The FBI has published a warning about a ransomware gang called the OnePercent Group, which has been attacking U.S. companies since November 2020.

The 2021 ICO Annual Report highlights areas of concern for UK organisations, including the rise of ransomware, the constant threat of email phishing, and the lack of public faith in companies’ handling of data. Let’s dive into some of the more interesting findings from the regulatory body’s latest report.

After being hit by a ransomware or phishing attack, it might be tempting for businesses to think the damage has been done and they can now focus on rebuilding. This is rarely the case. Research shows that 80% of organisations targeted by ransomware end up suffering another attack – and 46% are targeted by the same cybercriminals that hit them in the first place.

In July of 2021, a new ransomware named BlackMatter emerged and was being advertised in web forums where the group was searching for compromised networks from companies with revenues of $100 million or more per year. Although they are not advertising as a Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS), the fact they are looking for “partners” is an indication that they are operating in this model.

Ransomware is having a bit of a moment. Check Point revealed that ransomware attacks increased 102% globally in H1 2021 compared to the start of the previous year, with the number of corporate ransomware victims having doubled over that same period. Average ransom payments also grew 171% from $115,123 in 2019 to $312,493 a year later. But those weren’t the amounts originally demanded by attackers. Indeed, ransomware actors wanted an average of $847,344 from their victims in 2020.