Ransomware is now the most prominent cyber threat faced by businesses and individuals. In 2021, 68.5% of the businesses were affected by ransomware. These figures were the highest in the past three years. As the attacks are just surfacing, 2022 will surely see a rise in ransomware attacks. As we all are approaching 2022, there has been a surge in ransomware attacks by 1000%. Ransomware upsurged during the pandemic as businesses shifted to work from home models. To stay ahead of ransomware threats, end-users can invest in threat hunting Solutions.
Ransomware is evolving fast. Period.
In 2021 ransomware heavily attacked the IT & education industries as they had enough data to entice the ransomware gangs.
Threats related to ransomware will grow exponentially, and we have to be ready with our battle shields to combat it. But how can we fight them without knowing their background?
Ransomware is a prominent issue now, but there is progress in protection against them. In this article, we will explain how ransomware will evolve in 2022 and how you can guard yourself against the impending danger.
The evolution of Ransomware: Latest trends in ransomware for 2022
Over the last years, ransomware didn’t only grow in frequency but also in the ways they are attacking. As this year is coming to an end, it’s time that we take a look at how ransomware has evolved to be a threat in 2022. Ransomware will surely become more aggressive and widespread as it will leverage and target mobile and IoT devices. In October 2021, the Microsoft digital defense report stated that ransomware attacks had evolved themselves into human-operated ransomware.
It can’t get any scarier, right?
Here are a few predictions for 2022 that will surely help you to stay one step ahead of cybercriminals.
1. Ransomware-as-a-service (Raas)
The ransomware technology has evolved into a service-based model which allows cybercriminals to attack without specializing code to gain profit from ransomware. This new business model for Raas has invited people from non-technical backgrounds. If you are wondering what on earth is now Raas, then let us throw some light on it.
It is a service that is established within the industry where the operator will lease out their malware creation to other people for a considerable amount. Well, considering its lucrative nature, without a doubt, it is going to be one of the major threats that will totally flourish in 2022.
2. Double extortion
Double extortion is also a business model that has evolved into an effective intelligence operation. In this, the cybercriminals carefully research through the victim’s organization to acquire an optimal ransom demand. Before taking a step in the process, they take an extra initial step made by the criminals to penetrate the victim’s network to extract the financial documents and insurance policies. They also look for any legal penalties for breaches that may affect the organization’s reputation. After evaluating everything, the cybercriminals formulate a ransom demand to deploy the ransomware. The extortion demand will not only include the amount to unlock their system but also to prevent a data leak. This is known as double extortion.
Read More: Ransomware is evolving to be the #1 Threat
