A new joint advisory warns of the increasing threat of ransomware, stating that at least $602 million was paid to extortion gangs following ransomware attacks in 2021 — a figure that is only expected to keep rising.
Payments to the Conti group account for at least $180 million of all payouts throughout the year. This gang uses multi-extortion techniques, threatening victims with the public release of their sensitive data to encourage ransom payments — regardless of their ability to restore from backups. Conti was responsible for more than 400 ransomware attacks in 2021.
Darkside, the group responsible for the ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline (and now believed to have rebranded as BlackMatter), has pulled in the second-highest earnings from ransomware in 2021, with about $85 million in payouts.
Whether you're faced with Conti, BlackMatter, or some other ransomware, Acronis Cyber Protect keeps you safe. Its included Active Protection capabilities detect and block even never-before-seen cyberthreats based on the malicious behaviors that they exhibit.
