Increase In Ransomware Attack From Hacker-For-Hire Groups: Reports

Just like we adapt to our surroundings and situations, cyber criminals have also adapted to the pandemic, and cybercrime has become more active than ever.

Blackberry has reported that cybercriminals have now found new ways to find vulnerabilities in victims’ systems. A lot of things went wrong in 2020, and the rise of cyber attacks has been one of them. 

This is because everything nowadays has gone digital. More and more data is being uploaded online and is being exposed to hackers and attackers. 

During 2020, a lot of cybercriminals exclusively targeted the industries that were active because of the pandemic, like healthcare industries and other frontline sectors. 

Eric Milam speaks about how the pandemic has shaped cybercrime:

Eric Milam, the Vice President of research and intelligence at BlackBerry has stated that Cyber Crime has become more complex than ever and there is an urgent need to adopt preventive methods by organizations.

BlackBerry has also reported that there has been a rise in the number of Hacker-For-Hire groups. Ransomware has been one of the most prominent cyber-crimes in the last few years as reported by other organizations like IBM. The Hacker-For-Hire groups offer ransomware attacks as a service to the clients in exchange for money. 

Eric Milam also suggested that organizations should quickly adopt new and advanced methods like AI-based security systems and real-time monitoring systems to prevent data breaches and cyber-attacks.

How much truth does the report hold for India?

Cybercriminals have used the pandemic to their advantage, and it really shows in the report published by IBM, which has stated that India was the second-most targeted country in Asia-pacific by cybercriminals in 2020. Most of these attacks have been ransomware attacks targeted at healthcare and frontline organizations. This means that the attackers have targeted the industries that are already vulnerable. 

The only solution to this problem that has been proposed by Sudeep Das (Security Software Technical Sales Leader at IBM) is the adoption of better preventive measures like real-time monitoring systems and AI-based preventive technology.

To read the full threat report published by BlackBerry and IBM, visit their respective websites.