Earlier this year, managed detection and response (MDR) specialists Red Canary released ransomware statistics in their 2021 State of Incident Response report. We rounded up some of the top statistics from the report to help inform organizations when making ransomware preparedness decisions.
Exposure to ransomware attacks has been a high-profile threat for some time and has continued to grow in prominence over the last year, according to 57% of security leaders.
Prior to the remote work surge brought on by COVID-19, tools like network-based threat detection and web proxy filters were traditionally implemented on premises at a corporate location. Now, security teams are staring down a proliferation of employee-owned endpoints that are accessing the corporate network and causing visibility challenges.
The reduction in endpoint visibility due to working from home has become an increased concern for most security leaders (54%).
Elsewhere, increased attacks against remote desktop services (53%) and the migration of internal systems to the cloud (50%) have also become greater threats.
Nearly half (47%) of security leaders pointed to identity compromise through password-based/single-factor user credentials as a growing area of concern for their organization. However, this has long been a commonly used attack vector, made attractive to adversaries simply because gaining access to a system as an authorized user is much more efficient than attempting to target the built-in security of operating systems.
One of the more common methods of attack is a remote desktop or other service exposed to the internet with single-factor authentication serving as the initial entry point for an adversary, then leading to lateral movement and ultimately ransomware.
“There is nothing more effective at slowing down or stopping an adversary than strong identity protection, including multi-factor authentication. It doesn’t prevent all attacks, but it would prevent an overwhelming majority,” said Keith McCammon, chief security officer & co-founder of Red Canary.
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