FEATURE : MODERN WORKPLACE
Five keys to mitigating today ’ s ransomware risks
Dmitry Dontov , CEO and Chief Architect of Spin Technology , considers the best ways to approach modern ransomware prevention in the modern workplace .
Ransomware attacks grew by 435 % in 2020 compared to 2019 and this increase is not expected to slow down anytime soon . To put that into perspective , ransomware attacks have outpaced the already massive growth rate for overall malware prevalence during that same period ( 358 %).
And according to Cybersecurity Ventures , ransomware damages will cost the world US $ 20 billion in 2021 ( nearly 60 times the level of financial repercussions seen in 2015 ).
Over the last 12 months , the threat landscape has changed dramatically with the rise of remote workforces and the explosion of cloud services . So how can your security strategy evolve as well ? When it comes to ransomware , here are five areas to think about .
It ’ s no secret that remote work has changed the ransomware attack landscape . Now more than ever , employees are operating outside of the traditional corporate perimeter , beyond where the bulk of your security controls are most effective and concentrated . As a result , there are new attack vectors to address , such as vulnerable VPNs and Virtual Desktop workspaces , which means attackers are more likely to target individual users than corporate networks . They ’ re using social engineering methods to make attacks more personalized and sophisticated . This is one of the reasons why 73 % of ransomware attacks succeeded in 2020 .
Remote work has also forced organizations to invest more heavily in cloud services to ensure employees can access corporate data and resources regardless of their location , making SaaS apps and cloud services
Dmitry Dontov , CEO and Chief Architect of Spin Technology
www . intelligentcio . com INTELLIGENTCIO NORTH AMERICA 53