Fortinet is a global leader in broad, automated and integrated cybersecurity solutions. According to its latest semi-annual FortiGuard Labs Global Threat Landscape Report, in the first half of 2021 there is a significant increase in the volume and complexity of ransomware attacks targeting individuals, organisations, as well as significant infrastructure. Hybrid workers and learners, who connect in and out of the traditional network, continues to be the target of ransomware. The alarming figures are of the first half of 2021.
The attacks have crippled the supply chains of multiple organisations, and negatively affected daily life, productivity, and economic conditions more than ever before. Telecommunications sector is the most highly affected followed by government, managed security service providers, automotive, and manufacturing sectors. Not only this, some ransomware operators changed their strategy and instead of email-initiated payloads focused on gaining and selling initial access into corporate networks displaying continued evolution of Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) fuelling cybercrime. As per the report the major takeaway is that ransomware remains to be a big danger for all organisations regardless of the size or industry.
Fortinet recommends that if there is timely collaboration and partnership momentum across law enforcement, as well as public and private sectors, then the trend created by ransomware in the first half can be disrupted so that it does not impact cyber ecosystem into the second half of 2021.