Kaspersky Lab hosted its annual Cyber Security Weekend conference in Malta from 20 to 23 October. The event was attended by company experts, guest speakers from the Dutch Police, journalists and businesspeople from the wider region, as well as from Israel and South Africa. This year, one of the key topics of the conference was ransomware – a threat that poses serious risks to the finances and data of both consumers and businesses, with particular attention paid to the IT security needs of small and medium-sized businesses.
Kaspersky Lab experts also conducted an overview of current digital threats and security trends, both globally and locally, and discussed the key threat actors affecting the region.
Kaspersky Lab's analysis of the threats faced by the IT sector in the third quarter of 2016 shows that in Europe, 33% of users had encountered security incidents related to local networks and removable media, and 15% had encountered online threats.
Statistics from Kaspersky’s cloud service (Kaspersky Security Network service) for the period July – September 2016 show that Ukraine continues to have the highest number of users affected by local threats (57.9%), followed by Israel (38.5%), Serbia and Greece (37.6%) and South Africa (36%). The largest number of incidents related to online threats were reported in Slovenia (23.9% of KSN users) and Ukraine (21.8%), followed by Spain and Greece. The Netherlands, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic have somewhat lower levels of threats: 7-10% of users were affected by online threats in these countries.
“Digital threats are evolving alongside technology and impacting all areas of personal and business experience. In addition to simply multiplying rapidly, malware is also becoming increasingly sophisticated, causing greater damage. Ransomware isgrowing particularly rapidly and is one of the main current threats facing the IT sector. Our research shows that 40% of users today pay ransom when their data is encrypted, which only serves to satisfy cybercriminals,” explains Marco Preuss, Director of Kaspersky Lab’s Global Research and Analysis Team for Europe.
“Also, new risks, inspired by the Internet of Things, are appearing on the horizon. We have already seen how ‘smart’ TVs can be used to spy on their owners and how a ‘smart’ door can be unlocked for unauthorized persons. It is imperative that we prepare for both the current and future risks arising from these new devices.”.
In 2015 and early 2016, Kaspersky Lab recorded over 2 million digital incidents involving ransomware, many of which have attracted widespread public attention. Compared to 2014-2015, the number of ransomware attacks in the business sector increased sixfold.
Kaspersky Lab experts expect that with the increasing use of ransomware programs by cybercriminals, this type of malware could even surpass banking Trojans.
According to the Corporate IT security Risks Survey conducted in 2016, 20% of businesses worldwide have faced at least one ransomware attack in the last 12 months.
In Europe, this problem appears to be even more widespread with 28% of companies having experienced a threat.
As for South Africa, the percentage here is slightly lower, reaching 19%. Ransomware is not limited to PC users, but has also been developed for mobile platforms. In the second quarter of 2016, 83,048 malicious installation packages developed for mobile devices were detected.
To help even more companies reduce the risk of ransomware infection, Kaspersky Lab has released a free Anti-Ransomware tool for businesses, along with dedicated anti-ransomware features in its core solutions. In addition, Kaspersky Lab, in collaboration with Europol, the Dutch National Police and Intel Security, has launched the “No More Ransom” initiative, a website (www.nomoreransom.org) aimed at educating the public about the dangers of ransomware and helping victims recover their data without having to pay ransom to cybercriminals. Its members include 14 law enforcement agencies from various countries.
“We are committed to contributing to the fight against cybercrime and ransomware in particular, but we can only achieve this by joining forces with other law enforcement agencies and cybersecurity companies. Cybercrime is global, it knows no boundaries or borders, so we definitely need this cooperation. Together, both with the ‘No More Ransom’ initiative and our other activities, we are doing everything possible to disrupt the activity of cybercriminals and return files to their rightful owners, without the latter having to pay a ransom. We are also committed to doing everything in our power to inform users and organizations about this problem, as, unfortunately, there are no decryption tools for all different types of ransomware. Backing up your data and being careful when you are online can make a significant contribution to avoiding infection,” said Ton Maas, Digital Coordinator of the Dutch Police.
