VLCM IT Industry News

The recent WannaCry and NotPetya attacks have highlighted not only how quickly ransomware actors are growing in sophistication, but also how the interconnectedness of today’s world puts all organizations at risk. In the education sector, ransomware is becoming a major headache for IT managers, making the back-to-school season is a good time to revisit ransomware protection policies.

The results are in: 2016 was a dismal year for victims of ransomware:

• There were nearly 640 million ransomware attacks in 2016.
• In 2016, ransomware was in nearly 40% of all spam messages.
• Ransomware payments for 2016 reached $1 billion.

And now for the bad news; we’re only halfway through 2017 and things look even bleaker.

Nowadays, threats are harder to detect, automated attacks make everyone a target, and vulnerable devices are everywhere. Just when you think you’ve got everything figured out, sophisticated criminals are taking old threats and beefing them up with new technologies.

The recent Petya panic that came right on the heels of Wannacry is a reminder that when it comes to ransomware, you can never let your guard down.