Ransomware began its reign of cyber terror in 1989 and remains a serious and dangerous threat today. In layman’s terms, ransomware is malware that employs encryption to lock users out of their devices or block access to critical data or files. A sum of money, or ransom, is then demanded in return for access to the information. Some effects of ransomware include downtime, data loss, possible intellectual property theft, major financial consequences and more.
The Rise of Ransomware
Ransomware and their variants are rapidly evolving. McAfee Labs found that ransomware grew by 118% in the first quarter of 2019, and discovered new ransomware families using innovative techniques to target and infect enterprises. Based on volume, the top three ransomware families that were most active in Q1 were Dharma, GandCrab and Ryuk.
Many variations of ransomware exist. Often we’ve seen ransomware and other malware being distributed using email spam campaigns or through targeted attacks. But in Q1, our researchers found an increasing number of attacks are gaining access to companies that have open and exposed remote access points, such as RDP and virtual network computing (VNC). RDP credentials can be brute-forced, obtained from password leaks, or simply bought in underground marke ..
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