Security News > 2023 > July > New disturbing ransomware trend threatens organizations

Ransomware attacks increased by over 37% in 2023 compared to the previous year, with the average enterprise ransom payment exceeding $100,000, with a $5.3 million average demand, according to Zscaler.

Since April 2022, ThreatLabz has identified thefts of several terabytes of data as part of several successful ransomware attacks, which were then used to extort ransoms.

"Ransomware authors are increasingly staying under the radar by launching encryptionless extortion attacks which involve large volumes of data exfiltration. Organizations must move away from using legacy point products and instead migrate to a fully integrated zero trust platform that minimizes their attack surface, prevents compromise, reduces the blast radius in the event of a successful attack, and prevents data exfiltration."

The evolution of ransomware is characterized by the inverse relationship between attack sophistication and barrier of entry for new cybercriminal groups.

The most prevalent ransomware families that Zscaler ThreatLabz has been tracking include BlackBasta, BlackCat, Clop, Karakurt, and LockBit, all of which pose a significant threat of financial losses, data breaches, and operational disruption to individuals and organizations of all sizes.

Originally, the encryptionless extortion trend started with ransomware groups like Babuk and SnapMC,.

News URL

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2023/07/10/encryptionless-extortion-attacks/