2017 has witnessed several kinds of cyber-related attacks through out the year. These attacks which includes DDoS, Data breaches, all kinds of ransomware attacks etc have cost companies, variant organizations, government bodies etc billions of dollars.
According to Carbon Black, a security specialist with endpoint security, there have been a 328% increased attacks against endpoints between January and December 2017.
The latest threat report from the company shows that ransomware threats dominated the attacks in 2017. The ransomware variants that topped the charts includes; Spora, CryptXXX / Exxroute, Locky, Cerber and Genasom, and their top targets includes government organizations, tech companies and law firms.
Ransomware attacks in 2017 had surged at a fast pace, costing global businesses an estimated $5 billion in 2017. The research from Carbon Black also shows that the WannaCry attack which affected most organizations and corporate businesses around the world, was the first exposure more than half the population have had in the world of ransomware.
Consumers attitudes towards companies hit by ransomware is on the negative side as 72% say they would leave their financial institution if it were to be hit by ransomware, while 70% say that they would completely stop dealing with a retailer in such events.
Of all the cyber-related attacks in 2017, 57% of these were non-malware (fileless) attacks -- these attacks, according security researchers (non-malware) pose more of a business threat than commodity malware attacks.
Everyday, cyber-criminals look for new sophisticated means of bypassing various forms of security and getting to their targets by exploiting any kind of security flaw. "Ransomware will become more targeted by looking for certain files types and targeting specific companies such as legal, healthcare, and tax prepares rather than 'spray and pray; attacks that we largely see now," part of the report read.