Are you susceptible to Ransomware?

17 October 2024
Ransomware

It is estimated that 50% of UK SME companies will be attacked by Cyber Criminals in 2025.

If it’s not your neighbour it’s you!!

Cyber insecurity is the fourth biggest risk facing the world in the coming two years, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2024, published in January this year.

Moreover, in 2023, ransomware payments globally exceeded $1 billion for the first time.

The good news is that the authorities are fighting back!! A major success has just been achieved with the closure of LockBit.

Here is the story:

LockBit

The world’s ‘most harmful cyber group’, LockBit, has been disrupted by an international law enforcement task force called Operation Cronos. Led by the UK’s National Crime Agency and the US FBI, the operation has exposed the operations and capabilities of the group and made two arrests and acquired huge knowledge of the major people involved.

LockBit has been operating since 2019, when it first called itself ‘ABCD’ ransomware, targeting thousands of victims around the world with ransomware attacks that have cost billions of dollars in terms of both ransom payments and recovery costs. It is estimated that the group made over $500M in ransom payments alone in addition to the costs of lost revenue, incident response, reputational damage and penalty fines.

A ransomware attack is one where cybercriminals hack into your device, use malicious software (malware) to encrypt and steal information, preventing you from accessing it, and then threaten to leak that data unless you pay a ransom in cryptocurrency.

LockBit essentially offered ransomware services to its global network of hackers or ‘affiliates’, giving them the malware and platform to carry out these attacks and collect ransoms from thousands of victims globally.

Among the group’s most prominent victims were the UK’s Royal Mail, aeroplane maker Boeing, China’s biggest bank ICBC and law firm Allen & Overy. In the US alone, around thousands of attacks have been made on governments at city and county level, emergency services and schools.

ARE YOU VULNERABLE?

If major institutions are being hacked then the chances are you are open to a cyber attack.

Contact Archway Securities today for a short consultation which will help you decide how vulnerable you are.

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