Petya Ransomware – Ransomware Reaches 1 Billion Dollars

Ransomware reaches 1 Billion dollars, according to ZDNet. That means that malware authors are raking it in!

That’s why it’s more important than ever that we increase the number of cybersecurity experts in the world! More and more people, and more and more businesses, succumb to cybercrime. This is not just inconvenient, it’s expensive as well.  Too many people and organisations are ill-equipped to handle these attacks.

Ransomware and Cryptocurrencies

The linked article mentions the Herjavec Group (of Robert Herjavec from “Shark Tank” fame). Their take that Bitcoin and anonymous currencies have made it significantly easier for these attacks to occur. There definitely is a correlation, but often bitcoin is replaced with gift card codes. Of course, all alternatives to fiat money are likely game for the ransomware authors.

The unfortunate thing about ransomware reaching 1 billion dollars is that it will continue to be an attractive attack target for the authors. It’s a relatively easy thing to create (unfortunately). Ransomware is relatively easy to distribute. The ransoms are relatively easy to collect. Businesses will become the targets more often than end-users as businesses tend to have more money. (The one saving grace there is that they’d be more likely to have backups.) So-called “SOHO” (small office, home office) users can often go without particular data, but if not, they have only two choices – go without or pay.

As ransomware reaches 1 billion dollars, soon we will see it reach 2 billion. It will only increase from there. The only effective remedy against this is to penalise the people creating it. This is often difficult for a number of reasons, the biggest of which is that malware authors operate from places where they will never face penalties. Therefore, increasing the number of cybersecurity experts is an effective remedy against these sorts of things, and why this site exists.