The year of ransomware continues

SonicWall, the publisher of the world’s most quoted ransomware threat intelligence, recorded a 148% increase in global ransomware attacks through the third quarter of 2021. With 470 million ransomware attacks logged by the company this year to date, 2021 will be the most costly and dangerous year on record. 

This month, the current U.S. administration hosted a global ransomware summit to pledge ‘all national tools’ to stop cyberattacks on critical sectors. Leading governments, including the UK, India, Australia, Germany and France, as well as the European Union, attended. SonicWall’s latest research now confirms leaders have cause for concern. 

“As we see it, ransomware is on a nearly unimaginable upward trend, which poses a major risk to businesses, service providers, governments and everyday citizens,” said SonicWall President and CEO Bill Conner. “The real-world damage caused by these attacks is beyond anecdotal at this point. It’s a serious national and global problem that has already taken a toll on businesses and governments everywhere. I’m hopeful that the recent global ransomware summit is the next step toward a greater response at global, national and state levels.”  

Ransomware rise not slowing

2021 has been the most active year for ransomware on record — and is showing no sign of slowing. After posting a groundbreaking high in June (78.4 million), these malicious attacks continue to see aggressive growth in Q3. 

“The techniques deployed by ransomware actors have evolved well beyond the smash-and-grab attacks from just a few years ago,” said SonicWall Vice President of Platform Architecture Dmitriy Ayrapetov. “Today’s cybercriminals demonstrate deliberate reconnaissance, planning and execution to surgically deploy toolchains targeting enterprise and government infrastructure. This results in larger victims and leads to higher ransoms.”

With 190.4 million ransomware attempts in Q3 alone, this makes it the highest quarter ever recorded by SonicWall, nearly eclipsing the 195.7 million total ransomware attempts logged during the first three quarters of 2020.

“While the world has been attempting to return to normal in a stop-and-go fashion, cybercriminals have never let up, driving ransomware campaigns to record numbers through the first three quarters of 2021,” said Conner. “These criminal organizations will continue to launch highly sophisticated cyberattacks that are designed to target organizations and business with weak or lax security controls.”

Despite movements to secure cyber infrastructures from respective national governments, the U.K. has seen a 233% surge in the number of ransomware attacks, and the U.S. has witnessed a 127% year-to-date increase.

All told, SonicWall logged 1,748 ransomware attempts per customer through Q3 — the equivalent to 9.7 ransomware attempts per customer each business day. SonicWall predicts that year-end 2021 ransomware totals will near 714 million, a staggering 134% year-over-year increase. 

“As long as organizations continue to overlook or fail to implement cybersecurity best practices to reduce their attack surface, ransomware groups will only increase investments in time, resources and money for launching campaigns that result in massive payouts,” said Ayrapetov.