Intelligent CISO Issue 43 | Page 19

It is estimated that today there is at least one ransomware attack on a business every 11 seconds . cases – for example , when critical services , such as hospitals , are under attack – the impact could be deadly .
cyber trends

It is estimated that today there is at least one ransomware attack on a business every 11 seconds . cases – for example , when critical services , such as hospitals , are under attack – the impact could be deadly .

The bigger the pay out , the more successful an attack is . And , when the COVID-19 pandemic struck , it presented new opportunities for cybercriminals to cause increased disruption , boosting the earning potential . In fact , cyber intrusion activity globally jumped 125 % in the first half of 2021 compared to the previous year , according to Accenture , with ransomware and extortion operations one of the major contributors behind this increase .
A huge pandemic challenge that businesses continue to struggle with is securing the new remote and hybrid work landscape . Remote working has opened up many new avenues for bad actors to explore and manipulate . Unsecure Wi-Fi connections , mass document sharing via unapproved cloud folders and browsers with insecure plug-ins are just a few examples of the problems today ’ s IT and security teams are facing . Left unprotected , these areas can pose a significant risk to corporate networks .
One of the most infamous ransomware attacks this year was on the Colonial Pipeline . The attack shut down systems that supply 45 % of the eastern US ’ s fuel , and has now been attributed to the breach of a Virtual Private Network ( VPN ), commonly used by remote employees to www . intelligentciso . com
19