Combating Ransomware: Don't Let Your Data Be Held Hostage

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As reported in the IBM Security X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2023, ransomware remains a major cyber threat, constituting 17% of all cyberattacks in 2022. With a 13% surge in ransomware attacks over the last five years, we could be looking at a frequency of one ransomware attack every two seconds by 2031. Staying vigilant is now more critical than ever!

Did You Know?

According to SOCRadar, in 2023, Singapore experienced 149 distinct ransomware attacks in total, and 28 of such incidents had the city state as the primary target.

Top ransomware groups targeting Singapore include Cl0p, LockBit 3.0 and ALPHV BlackCat originating from Russia.

Source: SOCRadar

Ransomware Trends

Ransomware attacks have evolved to include different layers of extortions to circumvent mitigation techniques such as data backups. Examples include:

SINGLE Extortion
Hacker encrypts victim's computer so he/she can no longer access the files.

DOUBLE Extortion
Hacker exfiltrates data and threatens to leak data on the dark web or sell to criminals.

TRIPLE Extortion
Victim's associates (clients, partners, patients, etc.) are ransomed with threats to leak data or encryption of critical system and DDoS attack.

In some cases, a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack may also be launched against the victim to exert more pressure.