LRQA Nettitude Blog

Ransomware attacks have continued to evolve into one of the most significant risks for every organisation. In fact, 37% of organisations said they had been the victim of a ransomware attack in 2021.

So, how did we get here and how is ransomware continuing to evolve today? We answer these questions and explain how you can make your business more resilient to ransomware attacks.

When a ransomware attack hits, time is of the essence to limit the impact on your organisation's operations. It has been said that prior preparation and planning prevents poor performance, helping with time management and ensuring that tasks are completed most efficiently.

The threat from ransomware continues to develop significantly. Previously, one or two endpoints would be compromised and have ransomware deployed to them. Now, attackers are compromising entire networks and deploying ransomware to every endpoint within the network.

Ransomware attacks are on the rise. Whether you’re a small business or a large organisation, you’re at risk and ransomware prevention is always better than recovering after an attack.

What is ransomware?

Ransomware is a type of malware that locks and encrypts your computer or device before demanding a ransom to restore access.

Your files and data are effectively held hostage. They’re inaccessible until you pay the attacker to unlock them, or you remove the ransomware from your system.

Of course, the best scenario is to prevent an attack in the first place. It saves immense stress to your people and lost productivity due to inevitable downtime. Not to mention the financial blow, should you choose to pay.

There have been several notable attacks during 2021. Darkside targeted larger organisations such as Colonial Pipeline in the USA. Meanwhile, Revil and Sodinokibi were blamed for a cyberattack on JBS, the world’s largest meat packer.

But it’s not just a problem for large corporates. Any sized business in any country can suffer a ransomware attack.