Five Reasons Why Ransomware Attacks Should Be Your Biggest Worry and Aren’t Going Anywhere

No other cyberattack has evolved like ransomware. Today’s attacks are more pervasive, invasive, impactful, damaging, and costly. Learn why and what to do about it.

Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you can't go online to any tech news without bumping into a ransomware story. This cyberattack method has gone from nuisance, to a mainstream means of separating your organization from its money.

I can't stress enough how important it is for organizations to take this threat seriously, so I put together 5 reasons you need to worry about it:

1. Ransomware has evolved to include data breaches and extortion – on top of needing to remediate encrypted data and systems, many ransomware authors are now stealing data and threatening to publish it if the ransom isn’t paid. This double-edged attack makes ransomware your greatest threat.
2. Everyone is a ransomware target – The latest data from ransomware response vendor, Coveware, shows that certain ransomware families target specific businesses sizes, putting every business, regardless of size, at risk.
3. Ransoms are being paid – the latest extortion tactics seem to be working, as many organizations are finding themselves in a no-win situation and have to pay some ransom amount. This only fuels ransomware as an industry to continue to evolve their tactics and execution.
4. Layered security isn’t stopping every attack – The fact that we’re still seeing ransomware in the news, and that there are reports (like the one from Coveware) demonstrates cybercriminals are evolving their tactics such that security solutions alone aren’t enough to stop all attacks.
5. Users aren’t playing a role in security – Email phishing still remains a top initial attack vector for ransomware campaigns. Because the user is needed to activate malicious links or attachments that are making it all the way to the Inbox, it’s important to enroll users in Security Awareness Training so they can learn how to identify phishing attacks and keep ransomware from ever running in the environment.

Ransomware as a disruption to operations and finances isn’t getting any better. And you should assume it’s only going to get worse over time. Ensuring your security strategy encompasses every part of the environment the attack touches – and that includes your users – is the only way you’re going to be able to stop these attacks before they start.