Ransomware attacks have skyrocketed in 2020, causing financial and reputational damage to companies around the world. The attacks have increased because they are very lucrative to the bad guys. We have heard of ransoms ranging from $500,000 to $25 million, depending on the size of the victim company. Threat actors have changed their playbooks to become more effective and it is time we do the same. Let’s understand the new threat and walk through some of the questions proven to drive the right results.

What Changed To Cause the Increased Attacks?

Ransomware is no longer an “IT problem.” It affects the whole company. Threat actors do more than simply encrypt data and demand a payment. Their goal now is to incite panic at the victim company, announcing publicly that they have breached the organization. The victim company then starts to get anxious messages from employees, partners, clients, and vendors demanding, “Have you been breached?” As panic quickly takes hold, large payouts seem the only way to control the chaos.