Security News > 2022 > June > Cybercriminals Expand Attack Radius and Ransomware Pain Points

Rather than the typical ransom request for data restoration that has become commonplace, criminals are increasingly expanding their radius.

Secondhand victims, including dental practices and insurance providers, could be potential targets based on the data obtained in the primary ransomware attack.

"In May of 2021, Ireland's public health system, the Health Service Executive, was victimized by a ransomware attack that had significant reverberations." In the following days and weeks, multiple hospitals connected to the public health service experienced service outages and financial losses, in addition to facing increased risk to patient data safety and access to care.

These facts point to a concerning global trend that extends the negative impact of a ransomware attack.

These black market vendors are not generally the ransomware operators themselves, but a third party who sells their access to a ransomware gang and thereby accelerates the pace of the ransomware gang's operations.

Recovery should go beyond "Wipe and reimage" to include thorough checks that can identify residual signs of compromise and, wherever possible, clearly determine initial access points to avoid reintroducing the attack vector during recovery efforts.

News URL

https://threatpost.com/criminals-expand-attack-radius/179832/