Ransomware gangs will reportedly conduct more financially motivated cyberattacks next year. Why this is happening? How can we predict future movements of these criminals? What does all this even mean for you?
In 2021, Financial cybercrime will evolve. Researchers say that extortion practices are becoming more widespread. Ransomware gangs will merge, and begin to use advanced exploits to target victims.
This is according to key predictions from Kaspersky. Researchers said that the COVID-19 has changed how we live and work. This has changed the way financial attackers operate. The implications of these shifts for 2021 are significant.
Over the past year, companies became less secure. Most of this is due to hastily deployed remote work solutions. This means a lot of issues arise. A lack of employee training, default laptop configurations and vulnerable remote access connections. These trends have opened up new ways to attack, including targeted ransomware campaigns.
According to Kaspersky, ransomware – above all – will continue to be a main scourge in the year ahead.
Ransomware gangs or malicious software developers have joined up and consolidated their forces. It has led to wide spread campaigns that have cost innocent companies millions. Some of these come in the form of scam emails. Most are extortion exploits targeting the vulnerable.
These hackers aren’t stupid, they know what they are doing. But lucky for you, so do we.
“Hackers have been very successful. They have increased the money victims need to pay to not publish stolen information. This is very important. It is not about data encryption anymore, but about disclosing confidential information. Leaks like this may result in significant financial losses.”
Kaspersky researchers expect higher growth in extortion attempts next year. More cybercriminals will target organizations with ransomware or DDoS attacks. This could include advanced persistent threat (APT) groups going forward. These are a threat that is very hard to get rid of entirely, when they have got their claws into you or your business.
Zero-day exploits could become more common among ransomware gangs according to the firm. They buy these to expand even further the scale of attacks and boost their success. It’s a vicious cycle that must be stopped before it gets out of hand.
“Ransomware groups who managed to accumulate funds as a result of attacks in 2020 will start using zero-day exploits. A zero–day exploit is a vulnerability that the developers do not know about. Buying exploits is an expensive endeavour, but hackers make a lot of money. They now have plenty of funds to invest in them.”
This increase in popularity of using malicious software is bad. Next year we are going to see more attacks on businesses.
So, why will there be more hackers in 2021?
Some people think that covid-19 is the source for this rise in organised cybercrime. This could be simply down to a bored IT enthusiast trying to scam their way to earning a few more bucks. It could also be group of people coming together to try and earn a living in an unstable economy. Unfortunately, this does not excuse them for what they have done and are continuing to do.
How do I defend myself from attackers in 2021?
Let’s look at a few easy ways to defend you and your business. Familiarise yourself with the ways that these people use to gain access to your data. Their techniques have never changed. Always the same monster, just with a different face! Recognising these ‘masked monsters’ will save your business and your personal data.
Another method is a strong IT system. You may be able to notice when one of these attacks come, that’s great. But it will mean mothing if you cannot protect yourself when the time comes!
This is where we come in. At Jalapeno services we care about building up your IT systems. We want you to withstand these attacks and protect your data and wealth.
We can be with you when the time comes for your IT systems to be tested. You can be assured that we will keep you safe.
