Ransomware has caused more than USD 5 billion in damages, says Europol
- Updated at March 18, 2021
- By Gatefy
- Blog, Security News
The 2018 Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA), released by the Europol (see the link below), points out that ransomware attacks have caused worldwide losses totaling more than USD 5 billion in 2017.
Based on data from the last year, the report claims that ransomware threats are dominant when we talk about cybercrime. Just to exemplify, it mentions the WannaCry and NotPetya attacks, which have caused unprecedented losses affecting 300,000 victims in more than 150 countries.
The report also suggests that cyberattacks targeting people are dwindling while targeted attacks on businesses are booming. Even small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) are more on the radar of criminals.
Table of Contents
Phishing and social engineering
An important alert from Europol regards phishing scams and social engineering, typically involving malicious emails. Often these dangerous emails contain malicious attachments and links.
There has been an increase in the number of this type of threat. The report says that this year almost 75% of Member States reported cases involving phishing. In last year’s report, it was 40%. And Europol believes that phishing and social engineering scams will probably grow even more.
The IOCTA adds that only a few phishing scams are successful compared to the number of attacks. But it takes just a simple click on a malicious attachment or link to endanger a whole company.
Europol key findings
The key points of IOCTA:
• Ransomware retains its dominance.
• DDoS continues to plague public and private organizations.
• Production of child sexual exploitation material continues.
• Card-not-present fraud dominates payment but skimming continues.
• As criminal abuse of cryptocurrencies grows, currency users and exchangers become targets.
• Cryptojacking: a new cybercrime trend.
• Social engineering still the engine of many cybercrimes.
• Shutters close on major Darknet markets, but business continues.
Access the 2018 Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment
Click here or over the image.
