Ransomware Attacks show a small dip, But is it the “Calm Before The Storm”?

Cyber Security, Newsletter

Ransomware attacks saw a nearly 25% decline in April of this year, according to the latest monthly Cyber Threat Intelligence Report by NCC Group, a UK-based information assurance firm. While the decline is encouraging, the figures remain worryingly high, with 352 attacks recorded in April, compared to 459 in March. Although this represents a considerable monthly drop, the current concern is that fugures for June could be significantly larger as a result of the MOVEit Cyber Attack.
  
One of the primary factors contributing to March’s inflated numbers was the extensive exploitation of the GoAnywhere MFT vulnerability. However, subsequent patches and fixes have managed to curtail some of these exploits. “Looking at the first four months of 2023, it is clear that ransomware numbers are trending much higher than in 2022,” the report noted. “Although the results this month have declined, the number of victims is the second highest ever recorded in our database (beginning 2021).”
  
The report also broke down the threat landscape by the numbers. Over half of ransomware attacks in April were perpetrated by three groups: Lockbit 3.0, BlackCat, and BianLian, conducting 107, 50, and 46 attacks respectively. In terms of sector targeting, Industrials & Manufacturing bore the brunt, accounting for 32% of all attacks, followed by Consumer Cyclicals and Technology, each with 11%. Geographically, North America suffered the most, home to 50% of all attacks, followed by Europe with 24%, Asia with 10%, and 8% occurring in undisclosed regions. It is worth noting that these numbers do not account for all cyber attacks on UK businesses, only Ransomware, UK Businesses are targeted by Cyber attacks roughly every 60 seconds according to recent studies.
  
NCC Group’s global head of threat intelligence, Matt Hull, highlighted the worrying trend of “double-extortion” ransomware attacks, where data is leaked to pressurise victims into making ransom payments. “This kind of malicious effort is on the rise,” Hull announced. In the face of this escalating threat, Matt Hull urged organisations to remain on guard. “As we see these growing levels of activity, organisations should remain vigilant and adapt their security measures to stay one step ahead, adopting a comprehensive and multi-layered defence strategy that is malleable to a changing threat landscape,” he advised.
  
The fight against cyber crime remains an ongoing struggle, but One2Call are here to help businesses navigate the challenging and constantly changing threat landscape. We understand that every business is unique, we work to understand your current cyber security processes, how your business opporates, who has access to what, what your users cyber security knowledge is, and much more. This allows us to build bespoke packages designed to protect your business, not only from current threats, but by using AI powered tools such as Endpoint Detection & Response or Active Email Threat Protection, we can protect your business from threats into the future.
  
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