Cities to the test of ransomware in 2019
There have been exactly 174 cities around the world that were victims of a ransomware attack in 2019.
More than 174 cities already hit by ransomware in 2019. Last year was the year of the rise of computer attacks on cities and public institutions. Compared to 2018, Russian computer security company Kaspersky has reported a 60% increase in attacks. This prompted the company's researchers to call 2019 "the year of ransomware attacks on municipalities. ».
This article will also interest you: 174 cities victims of ransomware in 2019
For the 2019 review, 174 cities and you 3,000 municipality-related governments were hit by computer attacks throughout the year. The basic attack was of course on the ransomware. Compared to the year surpassed, this increase is quite significant. Hackers have now become master singers. All they are interested in is extracting the maximum amount of ransom from the cities they are attacking. according to the studies, the ransoms that were extorted by the latter could amount to up to $5 million.
What could explain this sudden interest of pirates computer technology in cities?
As is well known, ransomware is not something New. However, its traditional target, if it can be categorized in this way, is more likely to be companies SMEs, which had not yet developed a set of reflexes to protect the information system where their computer system in its control together. Also the lack of knowledge of the cybernetic universe made them perfect victims for hackers Computer. however in 2019 the situation seems to be changing. Indeed, the number of cities that have been targeted and attacked or even destabilized by these programmes is enormous and unprecedented. Experts say this could be explained by the fact that cities are particularly more solvent in ransom payment than small businesses are. as a result hackers, in attacking the cities make sure faster and larger payments. Cities, of course, will foster, interest of their situation he will do everything to resolve this problem amicably.
Kaspersky in a report published in December 2019, to announce that the average amount extorted by hackers is equivalent to one million euros. But apart from that, the consequences of these hackings go beyond a simple ransom: "We must never forget that giving in to blackmail is a short-term solution that only encourages criminals and encourages them to return most likely to the charge. In addition, once a city has been attacked, all of its infrastructure is compromised and must be the subject of an incident search and a thorough audit. This inevitably results in additional costs in addition to the ransom. »
In this new adventure, let's say misadventure for cities, 3 new ransomware programs have been put the most highlighted. These include Ryuk, Purga and Stop. The most famous of the three is the first. Ryuk is widely used by hackers to attack both public institutions and private companies.
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