Get expert ransomware predictions for 2023, and say good riddance to ransomware attacks.
Ninety percent of organizations were affected by ransomware in the past 12 months. Fifty percent contended with ransomware at least twice, while twenty percent fought off ransomware between 6 and 10 times. In the first portion of 2022 alone, more than 236 million ransomware attacks occurred globally, and ransomware damages are expected to reach $20 billion by the end of the year.
Sustained, big-game ransomware attacks are continuing to disrupt major organizations worldwide. In early April, a high-profile attack hit the Costa Rican government. The ensuing operational chaos prompted authorities to declare a state of national emergency. While the government services of Costa Rica ultimately recovered, not every organization manages to restore itself to full capacity after a ransomware attack.
Thirty-one percent of businesses in the United States permanently close after falling victim to ransomware. In the United Arab Emirates, as many as forty-two percent of organizations fold following a ransomware-related intrusion. Ransomware attacks require an average of $4.62 million to fully resolve.
The destructive nature of ransomware is arguably reminiscent of a fire; overwhelming people with its immediacy and seemingly consuming all valuable assets in its path, including the business revenue intended for nearly anything other than ransomware. In 2023, an increasing number of organizations may be singed, scorched or metaphorically, left smoldering by the intense and glaring conflagrant that is ransomware.
Remain at the forefront of proactive action. How can your organization prepare for ransomware in 2023? The following ransomware predictions are designed to assist you in excavating and extinguishing the cyber security landscape’s ever-evolving ransomware threats.
Key statistics
- Ninety percent of organizations were affected by ransomware in the past 12 months.
- In the first half of 2022, more than 236 million ransomware attacks occurred globally.
- Ransomware affects livelihoods and lives, and can do so in profound ways for prolonged lengths of time.
Ransomware predictions from experts
1. “Costa Rica style ransomware attacks and high-profile data breaches will increase. Even bigger quantities of cyber crime activity will be carried out by state level actors or their affiliates, and will impact more people than before. The criminals’ intention is to affect public opinion.” – L.L
2. “As ransomware groups continue to see success, it’s likely that we’ll begin to see more groups and more organized cyber crime, hacktivism and cyber warfare…It’s always building momentum. We’re already seeing firms being attacked multiple times, so just because a company has suffered once doesn’t mean that it’s immune to another attack, unless it pivots to a prevent-first cyber security strategy.” – M.Y.P
3. “The evolution of ransomware to triple extortion and quadruple extortion are among the most significant threats that we face in cyber. It is imperative for leaders to understand that ransomware is not only a threat to our digital economy and geopolitics, but also increasingly to innocent people.” – A.A
4. “My No.1 worry for 2023 is ransomware. It’s very hard for people to know whether to pay, or not to pay. In reaction to ransomware, we will need to build sophisticated, mature and expensive Security Operations Centers. People think that they can deliver SOC, but it just becomes super crazy. We need more tools, more automation…etc.” – E.M
5. “The risk of ransomware supply chain attacks may increase and could theoretically disrupt worldwide commerce. The fallout could be ferocious.” -J.C
6. “Deepfakes will become popular in ransomware and phishing attack chains, which will also be leveraged by Hacktivists. In these instances, deepfake pictures, videos and audio files will be used to increase the effectiveness and impact of the cyber attacks.” – W.L
7. “Globally, ransomware attacks are due to spike in 2023. While some industries have invested heavily in ransomware prevention, detection and mitigation tools, other industries have barely begun to make a stand. Ransomware can drain an organization of value in minutes and send quality of life spiraling. Why wouldn’t you act now?” – A.S
How can organizations address ransomware?
A key way to guard against ransomware consists of implementing a comprehensive, unified cyber security platform, increasing security operation teams’ visibility across a network environment.
A threat intelligence management platform can also equip your organization to make better ransomware prevention decisions, and should represent a core component of your cyber security toolkit.
Another significant ransomware countermeasure consists of backing up data. With full-system data backups, in the event of a ransomware attack, retrieving lost data will not require negotiating with cyber criminals.
To protect your business operations, eliminate adversaries and shut down ransomware as early and as efficiently as possible, see A CISO’s Guide to Ransomware Prevention – here. You can also see CyberTalk.org’s ultimate ransomware prevention checklist.
In addition, Check Point Infinity’s portfolio of solutions protects enterprises and public organizations from 5th generation cyber attacks with an industry leading catch rate of malware, ransomware, and other threats – here.
Lastly, discover new trends, expert interviews, and so much more when you subscribe to the CyberTalk.org newsletter.
