"Ransomware Is Not Going Anywhere: Attacks Are up 24 Percent"

According to a report by Avast, there has been a significant increase in global ransomware attacks, up 24 percent from the first quarter of 2022. Argentina, the UK, Brazil, France, and India had the highest quarter-on-quarter increases in ransomware risk ratio. The decrease in ransomware attacks observed in the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022 was due to law enforcement agencies busting ransomware group members, as well as the war in Ukraine, which also led to disagreements within the Conti ransomware group, halting operations. However, things changed significantly in the second quarter of 2022 as Conti members have now split to form new ransomware groups such as Black Basta and Karakurt, or join other existing groups such as Hive, BlackCat, or Quantum, causing an increase in activity. In addition, researchers discovered a new zero-day exploit in Chrome and signs of cybercriminals planning to abandon macros as an infection vector. This article continues to discuss key findings from Avast's new report on the increase in ransomware attacks, the discovery of new zero-day exploits, and cybercriminals' move away from macros. 

Help Net Security reports "Ransomware Is Not Going Anywhere: Attacks Are up 24 Percent"