A significant increase in cyber breaches in the first half of 2019

Cybersecurity experts from Bitdefender, a cybersecurity and antivirus company based in Romania, noted a significant hike in ransomware – over 64.66% – from January to May 2019. This is in addition to a 74% increase in ransomware-related cyber breaches since last year.

One of the most widespread ransomwares, GandCrab, is no longer a  major threat  anymore.  Nevertheless, eliminating it did not reduce the overall threat. Instead, new threats come up every week and every month, and security solutions are now more important than ever for businesses, governments and non-profits.

Some ransomware has focused on certain industries and has targeted specific types of infrastructure like educational institutions, and large organizations.  Other ransomware is less discriminating.

The expansion of the ransomware market

The proliferation of ransomware gets a significant boost from the lack of security solutions and the “it won’t happen to us” attitude that many organizations and businesses still cling to. Furthermore, to get their data back, affected organizations pay ransoms in cryptocurrency, which in turn encourages further attacks.

With more than 832 million types of malware out there, organizations across the gamut are at risk.  Diligent implementation of cybersecurity solutions and prevention tools are essential to detect and deter potential cyberattacks.