Ransomware Attacks Still Dominate Cyber Crime In Cyberspace

Ransomware illustration (photo: Kaspersky)

JAKARTA - Kaspersky's research revealed that in 2023, there was an increase in the presence of a target ransomware group by 30 percent compared to the previous year.

The global cybersecurity company also mentioned where this increase was also accompanied by an increase of 71 percent of the known number of victims of attack.

Ransomware attacks remain a major threat, infiltrate key sectors and prey on small businesses indiscriminately, said Dmitry Galov, head of research center, GREAT Kaspersky.

Unlike random cyber attacks that do not have specific targets, this target group usually targets certain government agencies, leading organizations, and individuals within the company.

In 2023, Lockbit 3.0 emerged as the most common ransomware, leveraging the leakage of its makers by 2022 to produce a special variant targeting organizations around the world.

In addition, BlackCat/ALPHV are in second place until December 2023, as operations have been successfully countered by collaborative efforts by the FBI and other agencies. However, BlackCat quickly bounced back, underscoring the resilience of the ransomware group.

Third on the list is Cl0p, which violated MOVEIT's managed file transfer system, which affected more than 2.5 thousand organizations in December 2023, according to New Zealand security firm Emsisoft.

In the State of Ransomware report in 2023, Kaspersky also identified several important ransomware groups, including BlackHunt, Rhysida, Akira, Mallox, and 3AM.

Kaspersky's incident response team noted that ransomware incidents accounted for every third of cybersecurity incidents last year.

"To counter this widespread threat, it is very important for individuals and organizations to strengthen their defenses with strong security measures," he added.