Ransomware is growing fast and could become more difficult to tackle as the criminal ecosystem shifts from a few dominant players to many smaller ones.
Tech security company Bitdefender analysed Windows security threats including ransomware, coin miners, fileless malware, PUAs ('potentially unwanted applications' that can compromise privacy or security), exploits (attacks based on unpatched or previously-unknown vulnerabilities) and banking Trojans.
Bitdefender found that of all these threats, ransomware reports saw the biggest year-on-year increase -- 74.2%. Ransomware also ranked first in terms of the total number of reports.
According to the security company, the number of ransomware reports actually dropped during the first half of 2019, largely because the group behind the GandCrab ransomware throttled down their operation.
But since then, ransomware reports climbed again as new ransomware has emerged to fill the void left by GandCrab (it's also possible they have now restarted operations).
While new ransomware such as Sodinokibi (aka REvil or Sodin) have not replaced GandCrab, they are seeing growth.
"The fall of GandCrab, which dominated the ransomware market with a share of over 50 percent, has left a power vacuum that various spinoffs are quickly filling. This fragmentation can only mean the ransomware market will become more powerful and more resilient against combined efforts by law enforcement and the cybersecurity industry to dismantle it," the report said.
Bitdefender said reports of coin miners and fileless malware both declined slightly i ..
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