WannaCry is notorious as a ransomware worm that spread rapidly through a number of computer networks in May of 2017. It encrypts the files on the PC's hard drive, locking users out, then demands a ransom payment in bitcoin in order to decrypt them.
Since the beginning of the year, the number of organizations affected with WannaCry globally has increased by 53%, Check Point Research (CPR) said, adding that there are 40 times more affected organizations in March 2021, when compared to October 2020.
Ominously, CPR says the U.S. sees the most ransomware of any single country, with 12% of all ransomware attack attempts globally as well as the most Microsoft Exchange server attacks, with 49% attack attempts compared to other countries.
The culprits in the Microsoft attacks are a ransomware group known as BlackKingdom and another unknown group deploying a new malware strain called DearCry, according to CPR.
The top three industry sectors that saw the most ransomware attack attempts are government/military (18%), manufacturing (11%) and finance/banking (8%).
Source: Ransomware, Microsoft attacks are surging at the same time
03 Apr 2021, 8:47 am
