Ransomware a Growing Cybersecurity Threat, Verizon Report Says
Verizon said ransomware attacks are "a key cybersecurity threat," citing a highlight of its 2018 Data Breach Investigation Report. "Ransomware is the most common type of malware, found in 39 percent of malware-related data breaches -- double that of last…
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year’s DBIR -- and accounts for over 700 incidents," said a Verizon release Tuesday. "What’s more, Verizon’s analysis show that attacks are now moving into business critical systems, which encrypt file servers or databases, inflicting more damage and commanding bigger ransom requests." The report "also flags a shift in how social attacks, such as financial pretexting and phishing, are used," Verizon said. "Attacks such as these, which continue to infiltrate organizations via employees, are now increasingly a departmental issue. Analysis shows that Human Resource (HR) departments across multiple verticals are now being targeted in a bid to extract employee wage and tax data, so criminals can commit tax fraud and divert tax rebates." George Fischer, Verizon Enterprise Solutions president, said, “Businesses find it difficult to keep abreast of the threat landscape, and continue to put themselves at risk by not adopting dynamic and proactive security strategies.”