Cybersecurity : A Shield against Ransomware.

 While technological disruptions and digitisation are a boon to society, the scale and sophistication of cyberattacks is rising and will only continue to surge over the coming years. Moreover, the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic has only added to the escalating cases of cyberattacks across different sectors, given that many small to medium to large scale businesses have adopted digital platforms.

According to a 2021 report rolled out by McAfee Enterprise and FireEye, since the COVID-19 outbreak, nearly 81% of the surveyed organizations experienced increased cyber threats, with about 79% of firms witnessing downtime due to incidents during peak season. Meanwhile, the World Economic Forum’s ‘Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2022’ released data that the pandemic led to a record number of cybercrimes with ransomware attacks elevating to 151% in 2021. It was claimed that the cost of each cyber breach was about USD 3.6 million to an affected company.

What does a Ransomware attack mean?

Ransomware is a malware designed to deny a user or organization access to files on their computer. By encrypting these files and demanding a ransom payment for the decryption key, cyberattackers place organizations in a position where paying the ransom is the easiest and cheapest way to regain access to their files.

To know more about Ransomware attacks, click here - Rise of Ransomware in 2022

Impact Of Cyber Attack on Various Sectors

Sectors like healthcare, government, banking, and IT are now seeking new-age technologies linked with cybersecurity that ensure secure and proper business operations. Discussed below is a brief outlook on how different sectors have been answering to the infamous cyber threats during the coronavirus pandemic:

 

1. Healthcare sector- 69% rise in ransomware attack volumes in 2021 to prompt the deployment of cybersecurity policies and initiatives in the healthcare space. 

Cyber-attacks across various healthcare organizations worldwide continue to increase at an unprecedented pace. The numbers had nearly doubled during the coronavirus period.

‘As per a report by Sophos, more than 1 in 3 healthcare organizations, globally, reported being affected by ransomware in 2020.’

Since healthcare organisations include various types of specialized hospital information systems like e-prescribing, EHR systems, clinical decision support systems, and patient data, it becomes critically important for these institutions to deploy new-age cybersecurity technologies and solutions.

 

2. Education sector- Rising ‘e-virus’ cases in the e-learning space demand the roll out of cyber security training programmes.

Since 2020, the education sector has been one of the highly vulnerable verticals across the world when it comes to the growing cases of cyber threats. This can be credited to the shift from on-premises education to cloud or online education, or e-learning.

‘A recent report by Check Point Software Technologies marks that the education and research verticals were the top targets for cyber attackers in 2021. They accounted for an average of 1,605 attacks per organization every week, depicting a 75% rise in cyber threats from 2020.’

 Analysing the future of cybersecurity in the education & healthcare sectors

With cyber-crimes registering nearly 600% hike since the COVID-19 pandemic, the push for cyber security is real. Education and healthcare sectors have become two of the most exposed industries to cybercrimes during the pandemic, opening new future prospects for solution providers.

However, it would be pivotal to understand how geared these sectors are to combat the occurrences of malware and ransomware attacks over the coming years. For the education sector, analysts opine that the institutions should potentially incorporate a robust cybersecurity culture and hone the practice of implementing Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) and Single Sign-On (SSO) technologies.

Meanwhile, the idea of integrating AI into hospitals is gaining momentum and experts believe that the technology could limit the number of errors at the facilities and assist earlier detection of cyber threats. With that being said, advancements in technologies as well as proper awareness regarding the varied threat types and solutions could help key sectors fight the surge in cybercrime rates worldwide.  

 

So, let’s be proactive about the urgency of Cybersecurity and protect ourselves from such Ransomware attacks….

Do share your views in the comment section!!!

By -

Sanket B. Thorat

Joint ARO & SMM, ELESA.