Ransomware operations remain top cyber threat to companies –report

Group-IB, a global cybersecurity leader specializing in the investigation and prevention of cybercrimes, has revealed how ransomware operations remained the top cyber threat to companies and organizations across the world between the second half of 2021 and 2022.

In its new Hi-Tech Crime Trends 2022/2023 report published on Tuesday, Group-IB, the number of companies that had their information uploaded onto dedicated leak sites (DLS) between H2 2021 and H1 2022 was up 22% year-on-year to 2,886, which corresponds to eight companies having their data leaked online every single day.

For the second consecutive year, Group-IB researchers observed the increasing impact of initial access brokers (IABs) on the ransomware market in MEA and beyond.

Group-IB researchers detected 2,348 instances of corporate access being sold on dark web forums or privately by IABs, twice as much compared to the preceding period.

The number of brokers also grew from 262 to 380, leading to a drop in prices that made the attacks of ransomware gangs and other threat actors more affordable. In the MEA region, the number of network access offers more than doubled to 179 in H2 2021 – H1 2022, resulting in a drop in price of total offers of 23%.

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For the 11th consecutive year, the Hi-Tech Crime Trends report analyzes the various aspects of the cybercriminal industry’s operations, examines attacks, and provides forecasts for the threat landscape for various sectors such as the financial industry, telecommunications, manufacturing and energy.

Each year, Group-IB presents a comprehensive overview of the global threat landscape and our researchers share their predictions for what lies ahead.

Group-IB’s hands-on experience in investigating cybercrime as well as its innovative suite of products and services help to describe all underground trends and activities that are worth watching and even make long-term predictions that help cybersecurity teams around the world to tailor their cyber defense.

“It is worth noting that the number of victims whose data was published in the wake of ransomware attacks in H2 2020 – H1 2021 was 935% up from the preceding year. As a result, the 22% year-on-year growth seen in the observed period suggests that the Ransomware-as-a-Service market has passed the phase of rapid growth and is now beginning to stabilize,” says Dmitry Volkov, CEO at Group-IB.

Group-IB’s analysis of the threat posed by ransomware gangs also revealed that globally, the largest number of ransomware-related data leak victims were found in the following sectors: manufacturing (295 companies), real estate (291), professional services (226), and transportation industries (224). In the MEA region, 18 financial services companies, 12 manufacturing companies, 7 energy companies, 3 telecommunications companies, and 3 IT companies had their files published on DLS by cybercriminals.