ISLAMABAD: Targeted ransomware groups have grown in numbers and are notorious for attacking governments, high-profile organizations and selective groups of people within an organization.

An in-depth research by Kaspersky experts showed a surge in the number of targeted ransomware groups globally by 30% from 2022 to 2023. In parallel to this increase, the number of victims of targeted ransomware attacks spiked by 70% within the same time period.

The research revealed that similar to regular businesses targeted ransomware groups hire cyber criminals as employees to run extensive and intelligent operations to launch increasingly sophisticated targeted ransomware attacks.

Kaspersky researchers closely monitored about 60 targeted ransomware groups in 2023, compared to about 46 groups in 2022, and discovered incidents that indicated collaboration between targeted ransomware groups.

In some cases, groups known for trading access points into corporate networks and systems sold initial points of entry to advanced ransomware groups that are capable of launching more sophisticated attacks. Since cyber criminals have to cross multiple stages to launch a targeted ransomware attack, such collaborations allow them to save time and go straight into network reconnaissance or infection, it said.

Targeted ransomware groups are very persistent and have a huge appetite for extortion. For example, if a victim refuses to pay ransom, the cyber criminals often threaten to make the stolen data public. In some cases, these cyber criminals also filed GDPR or SEC complaints in certain regions against the victim organizations for breaking data protection laws, comments Maher Yamout, Senior Security Researcher at Kaspersky.

To protect your business from targeted ransomware attacks, the research advised to keep all devices and systems updated to prevent attackers from exploiting vulnerabilities and set up offline backups that intruders cannot misuse, and make sure you can access it quickly in an emergency.

Employee education and cybersecurity training is necessary as human error is a common cause for cybersecurity breach and can serve as an initial point of access for ransomware attacks.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024