Ransomware Continues to Wreak Havoc

Ransomware Continues to Wreak Havoc

The Rise of Ransomware

Ransomware has been in the headlines for a couple of years now. One day, stories will be written that explain how the ransomware epidemic is now over. That day has not arrived.

Yet with all the media coverage ransomware attacks constantly attract, it would be reasonable to assume that its effectiveness and impact would lessen due to greater overall awareness of the problem. The opposite appears to be true, according to a new study by Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG). Gaps in readiness continue to make it difficult for many organizations to manage and recover from attacks.

Here are some of the statistics uncovered by ESG: 73% of organizations that experienced a ransomware attack in the past 12 months were negatively impacted. i.e., three quarters didn’t deal with it well.

Even in those organizations with big security budgets and mature security processes in place, 75% suffered significant operational disruption. These numbers call into question how organizations are defending themselves against ransomware via effective detection, prevention, mitigation, and recovery.

Bargaining with the Devil

Blackmail is one of those crimes that just won’t go away. If the victim pays, it is rare that the perpetrator doesn’t return again and again to extort yet more money. It is the same with ransomware.

According to ESG, 61% of those who paid a ransom were subjected to further extortion attempts resulting in extra payments being made on top of initial sums. The FBI’s warning never to pay a ransom clearly makes sense. You are striking a bargain with devil but paying a ransom. Yes, they said they would leave you alone, but:

  1. They usually want more money within a short time
  2. They often leave some malware inside your systems even when they provide you with decryption keys.

Among those meeting ransom demands, only 14% said they retrieved all their lost data. The only guarantee there is when paying a ransom is that more trouble from the same cybercriminals lies just over the horizon.

IT Skills Gap

Part of the reason why ransomware remains so potent is the difficulties organizations are experiencing with IT staffing. Many organizations just don’t have trained staff knowledgeable enough to effectively address the ransomware scourge. According to ESG, 45% admit to struggling to acquire or retain the skills needed to respond to ransomware breaches.

“Unfortunately, many organizations remain seriously under-prepared to effectively mitigate against the risks and impact of ransomware attacks,” said Christophe Bertrand, practice director at ESG. “This results in a significant number concluding they have no alternative but to pay ransom demands in the hope their data will be returned. Instead, leaders should be focusing on ransomware strategies that emphasize effective, rapid, and complete recovery.”

Finding The Right Kind of Help

With ransomware attacks growing in volume and severity and paying the ransom no longer a guarantee of recovering your data, organizations need all the help they can get in dealing with this ever-present danger.

Syxsense Enterprise provides comprehensive defense against ransomware that encompasses prevention methods, detection, and remedial action. It is the world’s first IT management and Unified Security and Endpoint Management (USEM) solution that delivers real-time vulnerability monitoring and instant remediation for every single endpoint in your environment.

This represents the future of threat prevention. Breaches can now be detected and remediated within one endpoint solution. It can scan for all vulnerabilities on any device, block communication from an infected device to the internet, isolate endpoints, and kill malicious processes before they spread. It can automatically prioritize and deploy OS and third-party patches to all major operating systems, as well as Windows 10 feature updates.

IT and security teams can use Syxsense Enterprise to collaborate on the detection and closing of attack vectors. It offers management, control, and security for any and all desktops, laptops, servers, virtual machines, and mobile devices.