The global tsunami of ransomware attacks shows no signs of slowing which grew by 102% in 2021 compared to last year showing that the strongest threat – and which also involves Italy – is the so-called ‘Triple Extortion’. “Between January and June 2020 and 2021, in Italy we observed a 40% increase in ransomware attacks. This shows how the ransomware pandemic is still going strong and that hackers are exploiting every situation ” reveals David Gubiani to Adnkronos, Regional Director Se Emea Southern di Check Point Software Technologies, on the occasion of the presentation today at Checkpoint of Cpx Tech Masters, the event dedicated to southern Europe for the Israeli cybersecurity player. “Since ransomware is big business and that many organizations still pay the required ransoms, I’m afraid the situation will only get worse. In fact, if a sum is redeemed, the more the R&D efforts of hackers to launch sophisticated attacks are financed, “Gubiani clarifies. According to Check Point’s Cpx Tech Masters, the number of organizations affected by ransomware globally has more than doubled in the first half. of 2021 compared to 2020 and that the healthcare and utilities sectors are the most targeted Furthermore, since the beginning of April 2021, Triple Extortion is the new worrying threat.
This is a picture in which the newborn is inserted Italian Agency for National Cybersecurity and Gubiani emphasizes that “all of us IT security professionals welcome this news with great enthusiasm”. “The establishment of the Agency – he observes – will allow all Italian organizations to be more united than ever in the fight against cyber crime”. And, he adds, “the fact that the state has applied for the creation of this agency puts the digital security of citizens and businesses first”. “This news – points out the Check Point manager – represents a strong gesture of awareness on the part of government leaders, with a clear message: to make cyber security a priority. In fact, the Acn responds to both the EU’s request to member states for a national connection with the new Cybersecurity Competence Center and Network based in Bucharest, Romania, and to the need to protect the essential functions of the Italian state from cyber threats and developing the skills to prevent and fight them “. Prevention, in fact, adds Gubiani,” is the first move, which every company should implement and consolidate internally.
And to testify it are the data that emerged from Check Point’s Cpx Tech Masters. Since April, CPR researchers have noted that, on average, more than 1,000 organizations are hit by ransomware every week. This follows a significant increase in the number of organizations affected so far: 21% in the first quarter of 2021 and 7% from April until now. This growth has led to an incredible 102% overall increase in companies affected by ransomware compared to the beginning of 2020. “With the pandemic, the world of work has been disrupted and revolutionized and – explains Gubiani – the cybersecurity landscape has acted accordingly. , facing new challenges and priorities “. “According to most organizations, the ‘new normal'” that came with the pandemic “is set to last and what were only supposed to be rapid changes to networks and security infrastructure are likely to be permanent.” Gubiani explains that “this series of changes has further ‘deperimeterized’ what was already a poorly defined outline of the Italian company. No new technologies have been developed. Cloud and Vpn were already there, companies had to increase them to allow remote work, and the need to protect them effectively has arisen “.
“There has been no news even on the endpoint front: the techniques to protect them already existed, for example sandboxing and agents capable of monitoring activity on the web in real time and identifying unknown threats” Gubiani said, underlining that ” However, companies need to understand the lesson taught by this situation. Some have responded effectively, while others have hesitated. ” “The National Cybersecurity Agency will now regulate a number of aspects in a decisive manner in Italy and will help businesses in undertaking the much desired technological evolution. The goal to which it must aspire is to induce organizations to comply with precise regulations, thus protecting themselves, employees, but also customers and partners “ observes the Check Point manager. “The strongest threat, which also involves Italy, is called ‘Triple Extortion’ which is an attack methodology that affects victims of third parties, such as customers, external colleagues and service providers, as a result of a sophisticated ransomware attack aimed at to the organization and to the employees. These more ‘secluded’ victims are powerless in the face of this threat and have a lot to lose if the attempted attack takes a wrong turn “finally warns Gubiani. (by Andreana d’Aquino)