As a business owner, I’m sure you are aware of the constant cybersecurity threats we face in this modern world. Every other day we see headlines about large firms targeted by Ransomware.
Even the world economic forum has recently stated that Covid pales compared to what we could face in our heavily reliant technology world from a cyber-attack.
As a local IT provider, it’s our mission to protect our clients from these types of attacks, but we have also got a duty of care to the broader business community.
Awareness about the threats can help you make the right decisions about technology solutions and what is worth the investment.
In this article, I will disclose to you the five most dangerous ransomware groups of 2021.
Maze ransomware was first found in 2019 and is the number one culprit of over 1/3rd of all attacks.
The Maze group demanded millions of dollars from a state bank in Latin America – the question you have to ask yourself – if a bank can get hacked, what are the odds that your business could?
CONTI Ransomware
Conti again appeared in 2019, accounting for 13% of all ransomware attacks.
The strange thing about CONTI is that when they hold the company to ransom, they will also offer security advice on how to plug the holes from future breaches – almost like they have a guilty conscience.
Revil Ransomware
An Asian Ransomware and accounted for 11% of all attacks. Businesses affected include engineering and manufacturing, which were hit the hardest, followed by finance and professional services. This Ransomware attacks a few high profiles IT service providers and devastates their client base.
Question- how secure is your IT provider? Would you be protected if they were attacked? Ask this question of them.
Netwalker Ransomware
The group behind this Ransomware have made over $25million by targeting a large volume of business users. Police managed to seize and arrested a Canadian national on the grounds of extorting over $27 million.
DoppelPaymer Ransomware
This group frequently targets healthcare, emergency services, and education services. The group made headlines by targeting Delaware County and receiving over $500,000.
What do all of these groups have in common? They lock and encrypt files on business networks.
If you are worried about Ransomware and the potential risk, there are a few things you can do to reduce the risk.
These include having regular patching of all your Microsoft Windows devices – make sure they are patched and up to date. We have software that can help manage patching on your network.
Other risk mitigation includes regularly checking your backup solution and testing to ensure it is 100% restorable. There’s nothing worse than receiving a phone call from someone hit by Ransomware that does not have a working backup of their data.
If you would like assistance or advice in how you can reduce your businesses risk of being targeted by Ransomware, get in touch with us today for some friendly advice.
