Welcome to the April 2022 issue of your Computing Security Newsletter.

You will have seen from recent issues of the magazine that the menace which is ransomware has taken a global grip that goes far beyond anything envisaged when it first surfaced.

Last year, for instance, saw ransomware gangs turn their operations into big business with the emergence of Ransomware-as-a-Service.

Ransomware attacks have spiked for a few reasons, states global media company Forbes. “First, the availability of international cloud infrastructure has grown exponentially, providing crime gangs from across the globe with scalable and standardized environments that can be accessed from anywhere. This makes it possible for them to easily attack organisations within the United States and other countries using sophisticated cybersecurity programs-with little fear of extradition.”

According to Bitdefender, the top 10 most used ransomware families include WannaCry, GrandCrab and REvil, among others. The UK is in the top 10 countries impacted, while the worst affected include the US, Brazil and Iran. The most affected industries include education, with a third of ransomware attacks targeting those institutions, government (25%) and telecoms (22%).

Expect the level of attacks to grow as 2022 advances, with many organisations that have not taken sufficient protective measures subject to increasingly catastrophic outcomes.

Brian Wall, Editor
Computing Security

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