Things Are About to Get Embarrassing

But it’s not just the number of ransomware attacks that will pelt organizations in 2021, it’s the variety and frequency. That’s the view from FireEye, which ranks among the cybersecurity companies seeing more hackers embrace ransomware as a service. This opens the door for less skilled actors to jump on the ransomware bandwagon – and it facilitates the rapid growth of these threats.

Regardless of the approach, FireEye warns that hackers are on the hunt for organizations’ most critical assets.

“Through post-intrusion reconnaissance and the deep enumeration of networks, we currently see threat actors locking up the most relied on and sensitive data and architectures, which leads to much higher ransom amounts,” the firm writes in its report, “A Global Reset: Cyber Security Predictions 2021.”

Indeed, these so-called ransomware operators are turning up the heat on their prey. That’s going to create big problems in the coming year, FireEye says.

“We expect to see attackers use retained data in other ways as they digest the content. This could include returning with more demands or publicly embarrassing an organization.”