Ransomware: The Biggest Cyber Crime in First Half of 2020

In the chaos of COVID, Cyber Crime skyrocketed as many were forced home. In a recent report by Coalition, North America’s largest cyber insurance firm, 41% of cybercrimes in the first half of 2020 were related to ransomware.

Ransomware are programs designed to hold your system hostage and get money out of your company to free them. Cryptolocker is merely just one of many types of this programming. In Coalition’s report, they determined the following:

• Certain industries are more vulnerable: While every industry is susceptible to cyber-attacks, certain industries are more likely to be targeted. The insurance industry, healthcare, food services and manufacturing are the biggest targets.
• Frequency of breaches: 41% of cyber-crime Coalition found was related to ransomware, with transfer fraud and emails being the next biggest sources. As it relates to types of attacks, the most common attack was Phishing with 54% of attacks followed by Remote access
• Amount demanded increased: From 2019 through the first quarter 2020, the amount that Coalition’s policyholders were ransomed with doubled, with a further increase of 47% from first to second quarter 2020. [1]

Of the reported viruses for Coalition’s holders, the two biggest culprits were the Maze and Ryuk Viruses. Ryuk primarily attacks national systems like power grids and healthcare, with origins in Eastern Europe. They use drive-by phishing to install a trojan horse which evades detection as much as possible before it installs its programming. Maze on the other hand goes after remote desktops, which thanks to COVID has forced pretty much everyone to use. Instead of holding their computer hostage, it gets its money through shaming the victim. Meaning, they might install pornographic and other compromising material on the victim’s computer and if it’s not paid, they get released, letting the public destroy their reputation.[2]

Coalition’s report shows that cyber-crime has exploded in the last 18 months and it’s only going to get worse with people still in lockdowns. In protecting your assets, your cyber insurance policy should outline what happens when your targeted and what they will or won’t cover. An attack on your company’s information can be costly but a properly structured policy can mitigate the damage.

[1] Coalition Cyber insurance claims report 2020

[2] https://3zbt3524mf2h2czg2a249s29-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/maze-ryuk-wp.pdf