Day by day, the rate of ransomware attack is increasing. New variants of ransomwares are increasing with unpredictable attack techniques. Moreover, the ransom demands are also increasing at a rapid pace. Cybercriminals are developing new techniques to stay untraceable under popular anti-malware software. The average ransom demand has become $312,493 in 2020 which was $115,123 in 2019
According to the security researchers at Palo Alto Networks, the recent ransom demands represent a 171% year-over-year increase. Before 2020, the highest ransom demand paid to ransomware operators was around $5 million. However, it has doubled in the last year as one victim paid $10 million to ransomware operators. The highest attempted ransom demand during 2020 was around $30 million, which is a twofold increase as compared to the previous highest attempted demand of $15 million. The emergence of new variants of successful ransomware and easy-to-use ransomware-as-a-service offers are also fueling the breakneck growth of ransom demands. Some of the most active ransomware gangs at present are Ryuk, Egregor, and DoppelPaymer.
It is expected that this trend of high ransom demand will continue in 2021 with more organizations becoming the victims of ransomware operators. While financially motivated cyberattacks are growing, ransomware appears to be one of the most rewarding ones at present. Thus, it is recommended to always have a backup of important data.
Link: https://cyware.com/news/ransom-demands-are-growing-faster-than-you-can-imagine-12b3f2b8
