# Are You Prepared for the Surge in Ransomware? Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2021-08-19 Category: BUSINESS Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/business Meta Title: Ransomware attacks on the rise: How to protect your Meta Description: Discover the alarming statistics on ransomware attacks and learn how a threat intelligence program can help protect your organisation from cyber threats. URL: https://financedigest.com/are-you-prepared-for-the-surge-in-ransomwarehtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/graphicstock-international-business-concept-with-businessman-on-city-skyline-background-with-network-on-map-and-sunlightrofam3dxjl-2-1736837995719-compressed.jpg) _By **Anthony Perridge,** VP International at ThreatQuotient_ Ransomware attacks are on the rise. VMware recently surveyed 3,542 CISOs across 14 countries for its recently published [Global Security Insights report](https://www.carbonblack.com/resources/global-security-insights-report-2021/) and found ransomware attacks were the dominant cause of breaches for organisations worldwide. To compound this fact it’s Threat Analysis Unit identified a 900% increase in Ransomware over the first half of 2020. [Despite this rise](https://www.financedigest.com/suedzucker-quarterly-profits-surge-73-5-despite-cost-rise.html "Suedzucker quarterly profits surge 73.5% despite cost rise"), many organisations have been left behind with their security operations, with 60% of organisations experiencing ransomware attacks in 2019 – of which 29% said attacks happened at lest once a week. In fact, [according to Gartner 27% of malware incidents reported](https://www.financedigest.com/according-to-the-recently-published-report-by-persistence-market-research-the-global-market-for-gene-expression-analysis-will-reflect-a-steady-growth-during-the-forecast-period-2017-2022-by-the-end.html "According to the recently-published report by Persistence Market Research, the global market for gene expression analysis will reflect a steady growth during the forecast period, 2017-2022. By the end of 2022") in 2020 can be lined to ransomware. Ransomware has become a mainstream topic of concern, with high-profile attacks [impacting fuel supplies on the East Coast of America and targeting transportation systems and financial](https://www.financedigest.com/how-mifid-ii-will-impact-financial-advisor-communications.html "HOW MIFID II WILL IMPACT FINANCIAL ADVISOR COMMUNICATIONS") service providers. [Organisations are conscious about protecting](https://www.financedigest.com/protect-your-organisation-from-fraud.html "Protect your organisation from fraud") themselves and their customers when attacks happen, and consumer confidence has been affected as a result of this. A better understanding of adversaries and their tactics, techniques and procedure (TTPs) is needed, so that you can [understand how your organisation can mitigate any risks](https://www.financedigest.com/how-data-visualisation-is-helping-the-insurance-sector-understand-environmental-risks.html "How data visualisation is helping the insurance sector understand environmental risks"). A cornerstone to any security operation is a threat [intelligence program that provides better intelligence across the threat spectrum from known to unknown attacks](https://www.financedigest.com/new-intelligence-points-to-pro-ukraine-group-in-nord-stream-attack-nyt.html "New intelligence points to pro-Ukraine group in Nord Stream attack -NYT"), and the ability to leverage this intelligence for all the systems and analysts who need it. This intelligence must include internal data, events and telemetry, supplemented with external data from a diversity of sources including commercial vendors, open sources, ISACs, CERTs, government [cyber organisations](https://www.financedigest.com/cyber-threats-for-finance-organisations-to-watch-in-2023.html "Cyber threats for finance organisations to watch in 2023") and other sharing communities. Threat [Intelligence Platforms](https://www.financedigest.com/salesbeats-ai-driven-platform-is-pioneering-sales-intelligence-in-fmcg-2.html "SalesBeat’s AI driven platform is pioneering sales intelligence in FMCG") (TIPs) have risen in popularity to deal with this complexity. The first function of a [TIP is to store and manage](https://www.financedigest.com/5-tips-for-a-modern-manager.html "5 Tips For A Modern Manager") threat information no matter where it comes from. The second function is to correlate and contextualise it by prioritising the [small fraction of relevant information to turn](https://www.financedigest.com/where-do-small-businesses-turn-when-government-support-dries-up.html "Where do small businesses turn when government support dries up?") it into useful intelligence. Third, the intelligence must be shared with downstream [systems that use it for post-compromise detection](https://www.financedigest.com/the-fall-detection-system-market-to-show-innovation-based-steadiness.html "The Fall Detection System Market to show innovation-based steadiness"), pre-emptive blocking, and patch prioritisation. Finally, TIPs may include [analysis and visualisation tools that assist](https://www.financedigest.com/computer-assisted-anesthesia-systems-market-industry-analysis-opportunities-technology-demand-top-players-and-growth-forecast-2027.html "Computer Assisted Anesthesia Systems Market Industry Analysis, Opportunities, Technology, Demand, Top Players and Growth Forecast 2027") various user groups, including SOC analysts, incident responders and threat hunters, by making it easier to share intelligence and collaborate. **So how do you get started with a threat intelligence program?** Open data sources and tools such as MISP, TheHIVE and Cortex are some ways to get started with threat intelligence, [building and testing the processes](https://www.financedigest.com/li-cycle-to-build-french-battery-processing-facility.html "Li-Cycle to build French battery processing facility") required and demonstrating what it can do for your organisation. However, it is worth noting the soft costs of coding and development time required with [open source](https://www.financedigest.com/why-should-investors-be-paying-more-attention-to-open-source-software.html "Why should investors be paying more attention to open source software?") tools, and it can be likely that you will end up with a single person in the organisation developing the institutional knowledge and domain expertise. Should that person leave, costs and [risks increase](https://www.financedigest.com/over-half-of-organisations-would-consider-using-cryptocurrencies-for-business-transactions-though-8-in-10-acknowledge-the-increased-risk-of-associated-ddos-attacks.html "Over half of organisations would consider using cryptocurrencies for business transactions, though 8 in 10 acknowledge the increased risk of associated DDoS attacks") and the program will fail. Whether you go through this stage or jump straight to evaluating commercial approaches, [keep in mind that most threat intelligence programs will cost](https://www.financedigest.com/cost-of-living-crisis-consumers-keep-spending-for-now.html "Cost of living crisis? Consumers keep spending for now") in the range of £360,000 – £1.4 million per year for an effective capability, including people and new systems, for example threat intel analysts, a TIP and intelligence sources. However, given reports of ransomware demands and if you consider a recent report that estimates the average cost of a [data breach](https://www.financedigest.com/10-steps-to-stop-lateral-movement-in-data-breaches.html "10 Steps to Stop Lateral Movement in Data Breaches") at £2.8 million with mega breaches (50 million records or more stolen) reaching £284 million, a threat intelligence program that prevents even a single breach each year will pay for itself. However, this can be difficult to show when making the case for a budget. Unless your organisation is [suffering data](https://www.financedigest.com/hedge-funds-suffer-big-outflows-in-q2-data.html "Hedge funds suffer big outflows in Q2 – data") breaches constantly, you are unlikely to have any hard data to calculate an ROI. Instead, one [approach is to track your organisation’s](https://www.financedigest.com/cloud-migration-for-financial-services-organisations-whats-the-best-approach.html "Cloud Migration for Financial Services Organisations – What’s the best approach?") ability to detect compromises and determine which of those were exclusively detected with intelligence from the threat intelligence program. One large [global technology company](https://www.financedigest.com/generic-oncology-drugs-market-2021-global-leading-companies-analysis-revenue-trends-and-forecasts-2027.html "Generic Oncology Drugs Market 2021 Global Leading Companies Analysis, Revenue, Trends and Forecasts 2027") was able to attribute over 1,500 compromises per annum to their intel program using this method. In the context of their overall compromise detection [costs from security](https://www.financedigest.com/care-home-crisis-new-health-tech-platform-secures-record-funding-to-disrupt-dysfunctional-sector-that-costs-uk-taxpayers-millions.html "Care home crisis: new health-tech platform secures record funding to disrupt dysfunctional sector that costs UK taxpayers millions") tools, incident response, threat hunting and alert triage, they could show a strong ROI for their threat intelligence program. Each of these use cases, as well as others including threat intelligence management, vulnerability [management and accelerated](https://www.financedigest.com/iomt-internet-of-medical-things-to-accelerate-the-pancreatic-and-bile-duct-stone-management-market.html "IoMT (Internet of Medical Things) to accelerate the Pancreatic And Bile Duct Stone Management Market") prevention and detection, present their own ROI areas. These include [increased staff efficiency](https://www.financedigest.com/increasing-grc-demands-and-efficiency-imperatives-will-make-end-user-computing-risk-management-an-important-consideration-in-2017.html "Increasing GRC Demands and Efficiency Imperatives Will Make End User Computing Risk Management an Important Consideration in 2017"), improved collaboration, faster patching of prioritised vulnerabilities, reduced attacker dwell time and faster time to respond. As [threats evolve](https://www.financedigest.com/battling-the-evolving-fraud-threat-the-role-of-the-credit-team.html "Battling the evolving fraud threat: The role of the credit team") and emerge, a threat intelligence program is integral for an organisation’s survival. Now is the [time to implement a threat intelligence](https://www.financedigest.com/now-is-the-time-for-banks-to-introduce-intelligent-account-analysis.html "Now Is the Time for Banks to Introduce Intelligent Account Analysis") strategy and even if you already have a program in place, there is always rooms for improvement and optimisation for your top use cases. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---