On May 12, 2017, WannaCry, the
largest ransomware epidemic in history, reached its peak. With today marking
the third anniversary of the event,
Kaspersky shares that recent research confirms WannaCry has
retained its position as one of the most prevalent ransomware families. As
such, Kaspersky, together with
INTERPOL, have coined this day "Anti-Ransomware Day" to urge
organizations to back up their data and adopt relevant security protections so
that they are better able to defend against ransomware attacks.
While ransomware is not typically the most advanced threat
from a technical point of view, it allows cybercriminals to halt business
operations and extort money. In fact, recent statistics highlight that
organizations hit with ransomware attacks lost on
average $1.46 million in 2019, which
included costs for downtime, fines and reputational damage.
Kaspersky research found a total of 767,907 users were
attacked by encryptors in 2019 with almost a third of them (30%) found in
businesses. Of all the encryption families, WannaCry was still the most common,
attacking 164,433 users and accounting for 21% of all detected attacks in 2019.
With a significant margin, it was followed by other families such as GandCrab
(11%) and Stop (4%). GandCrab is a well-known ransomware-as-a-service developed
by a team of criminals and rented to the broader community and has been
distributed for years. The Stop ransomware campaign is also a popular threat
that is spread through compromised software and websites as well as adware.
"Since the outbreak of WannaCry, cybercriminals have
diversified their attack vectors to launch ransomware attacks. Their focus and
attacks have become more targeted and moved to businesses, governmental and
healthcare organizations where the information is critical, so as to demand for
higher ransom. Hospitals were the most vulnerable amid the COVID-19 pandemic,
as those attacked have lost access to critical medical equipment and patient
information. INTERPOL Global Cybercrime Programme has supported those victim
organizations to recover from the attacks and prevent any further damages. Now,
we are working closely with our member countries and private partners,
including Kaspersky, to raise public awareness for the mitigation and
prevention of cyberthreats by running a global awareness campaign during May
2020. The campaign, which encourages the public to keep good cyber hygiene and
to #WashYourCyberHands, focuses on ransomware this week to support
Anti-Ransomware Day," says Craig Jones, director, INTERPOL Cybercrime
Directorate.
"The WannaCry epidemic, which saw companies lose millions
in revenue because of downtime or costs related to reputational damage,
demonstrated what can happen if ransomware happens on such a large scale," comments
Sergey Martsynkyan, head of B2B product marketing at Kaspersky. "The threat
remains relevant today, as there will be users out there who still may not know
much about it and can become a victim. The good news is that the right security
approach and relevant measures can make ransomware yet another non-critical
threat. With that, we'd like to declare May 12 as Anti-Ransomware Day to remind
businesses and users globally to more carefully consider their security
measures so they are less likely to be challenged with ransomware attacks."
To help businesses stay protected from ransomware,
experts suggest that organizations should take the following anti-ransomware
measures:
- Explain to employees how following simple rules can help a
company avoid ransomware incidents. Dedicated
training courses can help, such as the ones provided in the Kaspersky Automated Security Awareness Platform.
- Always have fresh back-up copies of your files so
you can replace them in case they are lost (e.g. due to malware or a
broken device) and store them not only on the physical object but also in
cloud storage for greater reliability. Make sure you can quickly access
them in an emergency when needed.
- It is
essential to install all security updates as soon as they become
available. Always update your operating system and software to eliminate
recent vulnerabilities.
- Try free Kaspersky Anti-Ransomware Tool for Business. Its recently updated version contains an
exploit prevention feature to prevent ransomware and other threats from
exploiting vulnerabilities in software and applications. It is also helpful
for customers that use Windows 7: with the end of support of Windows 7,
new vulnerabilities in this system won't be patched by the developer.
- If a corporate device is encrypted, remember that
ransomware is a criminal offence. You shouldn't pay the ransom the attacks
demand. If you become a victim, report it to your local law enforcement
agency. Try to find a decryptor on the internet first, some of them are
available for free here: https://noransom.kaspersky.com
Additional findings on ransomware threats can found in the full
report.
To learn more about the free Kaspersky Anti-Ransomware Tool
for Business, and try it for yourself, please visit the dedicated product page.