The Prominence of Advanced Cyberattacks
For most people, the worst thing a cyber attack could do is try and steal credit card information, or maybe there's private information you’d rather friends and family not have. For the public and private sectors, there's more at stake. This isn’t news to anyone, that’s why these sectors have put more emphasis on security.
With people becoming more and more aware of different cyber attack and are able to spot these attempts and thwart them, cyber attacks have evolved, much in the same way any scam does.
One popular type of cyber attack is known by the name “Ransomware”. Ransomware is incredibly simple and works much like its namesake, you take something hostage, and demand a ransom for its release. In the world of cloud computing, anything can be held hostage. Databases, websites, email servers, and more can all be encrypted, and access locked off. Having the company’s data and internal communications shut off can completely neuter the business. Emails don’t come through, stock and other info can’t be access, even simple things like updating the calendar may be locked by this ransomware. But just how common is this?
Anisha Hindocha and Ishan Mehta collected data from all around the U.S. to more clearly show how common ransomware attacks are, stating
“From November 6, 2013 to March 5, 2020 there have been reports of 327 ransomware attacks on public sector entities in the United States”.
This is a large number of attacks on just the public sector, including the private sector, the number must be much larger. To protect your business from having to pay out the ransomware or risk being shut down, practice good cybersecurity, or take out a ransomware insurance policy.
Hindocha, Anisha, and Ishan Mehta. How Many Ransomware Attacks Have Happened in Your District? Third Way, 2020, www.jstor.org/stable/resrep25038. Accessed 9 Mar. 2021.
https://www.thirdway.org/memo/how-many-ransomware-attacks-have-happened-in-your-district