Ransomware Payments Are Falling | Free Antivirus Software

The average ransom after a ransomware attack is falling. More and more companies refuse to give in to extortion demands.

An analysis by cybersecurity company Coveware has shown that the average ransom payment after a ransomware attack fell by a third in the last quarter of 2020 - from $ 233,817 in the previous three months to $ 154,108.

The company attributes the decline to the fact that victims refused to give in to requests for Bitcoin to be paid in exchange for the decryption key the criminals use to claim to restore the network to working order.

While it is positive that a higher percentage of victims choose not to pay the cybercriminals, there are still a large number of organizations that are giving in - making ransomware continue to be successful, even if the perpetrators of the attacks are slightly fewer Earn money. Still, it might be enough for some ransomware operators to consider whether it's worth the effort.

"If fewer companies pay for whatever reason, it has long-term effects that add up over time and can make a significant difference in the volume of attacks," said a blog post by Coveware.

The increase in companies choosing not to respond to ransomware extortion tactics has also led the gangs to change tactics, as evidenced by the increase in ransomware attacks where criminals threaten to reveal stolen data if the victim doesn't pay. According to Coveware, these accounted for 70% of ransomware attacks in the last three months of 2020, compared to 50% in the previous three months.

However, while nearly three-quarters of companies threatened with data disclosure between July and September paid the ransom, that number dropped to 60% for companies victims between October and December.

The researchers point out that even if the ransom is paid, there is no guarantee that the criminals will delete the data and instead use it for other malicious purposes, which companies should take into account when deciding whether to pay.

And, as cybersecurity companies and law enforcement agencies warn, any payment made after a ransomware attack only motivates criminals to carry out further attacks.

Ransomware continues to be successful because cybercriminals can successfully break into insecure networks to lay the foundations for attacks.

Phishing emails and the exploitation of Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) are the most common methods for ransomware attacks to break into networks. While a phishing email relies on victims opening malicious documents or links to launch the attack, RDP does not require any person to be involved in the victim's organization as the attackers can detect leaked ones Abusing credentials.

Ismail Elmas, Geo VP EMEA & APAC at Zscaler, warns. "The fact that so many companies are still combining their cloud infrastructure with traditional remote desktop and VPN solutions does not address modern challenges efficiently."

In both cases, the ransomware finds its way into networks because cybercriminals exploit security holes. Applying security patches that prevent malicious hackers from exploiting known vulnerabilities can go a long way in preventing malware from running on the network.

Using tools like two-factor or multi-factor authentication can prevent attackers from gaining a foothold in the network, because even if they have the correct credentials, it is much more difficult to exploit them.

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Regularly updating offline backups by backing them up to tape drives provide organizations with a way to restore the network without the reward of blackmailers.