"Ransomware Attacks Soared 150% in 2020"

Researchers at Group-IB have discovered that ransomware surged by 150% in 2020, with the average extortion amount doubling. The average ransom demand stood at $170,000 last year, but groups like Maze, DoppelPaymer, and RagnarLocker averaged between $1 million and $2 million.  The average ransomware victim suffered 18 days of outages last year.  Maze group (20%), Egregor group (15%), and Conti group (15%) accounted for most of the attacks analyzed by Group-IB.  The Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) model accounted for the majority (64%) of attacks studied, and 15 new affiliate programs appeared in 2020.  Over half (52%) of attacks investigated by the researchers used publicly accessible RDP servers to gain initial access, followed by phishing (29%) and exploitation of public-facing applications (17%).

Infosecurity reports: "Ransomware Attacks Soared 150% in 2020"