Security News > 2022 > March > Dozens of ransomware variants used in 722 attacks over 3 months
The ransomware space was very active in the last quarter of 2021, with threat analysts observing 722 distinct attacks deploying 34 different variants.
The most prevalent ransomware groups in Q4 2021, according to a report by Intel 471, were LockBit 2.0, Conti, PYSA, and Hive.
The most targeted region was North America, accounting for almost half of all attacks by the ransomware operations mentioned above.
The stats are rather balanced for targeted industries, and only the Consumer and Industrial products sector stands out, accounting for one out of four attacks.
The FBI recently warned that ransomware gangs commonly target companies during mergers and acquisitions to further apply pressure during negotiations.
In many cases, the targeted companies are purely opportunistic in nature, where ransomware gangs simply attack whoever they can gain access to rather than based on any vertical or season.
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