Cyberthreats Rising in 2024

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Over the last decade, it seems that every year has been hailed as the peak of ransomware attacks. Despite ongoing efforts by the cybersecurity industry, the rising tide continues. 

But something changed in 2024.

For many years, the increase of ransomware has mostly been a contained issue.

The public by and large has experienced no hiccups or delays from ransomware attacks. And then 2024 came along, and ransomware feels like it's everywhere.

Maybe it was…

But these changes, while inconvenient, are not the most disturbing.

Recent developments in ransomware attacks have seen threat actors turn to hospitals and schools as their targets. This change makes some of the most vulnerable people most at risk.

  • Hackers targeting hospitals is a particularly disturbing trend that has made headlines in 2024 (like the prolonged issue with UnitedHealth). But just recently, a high profile ransomware attack rocked a blood donation center servicing over 350 hospitals.

    So far this year, a shocking 67% of healthcare organizations have been hit by ransomware—nearly double what it was in 2021 (34%). The attacks are also especially malicious, with 95% of those hit saying the threat actors tried to compromise backups which consist of sensitive and often essential medical information.

    More and more victims of ransomware are paying the ransoms, and healthcare organizations on average pay $1.4 million to the criminals. That kind of payoff drives further attacks. Meanwhile, hospitals need the life saving information, and getting their systems back as soon as possible is a matter of life and death for many.

  • Oddly, schools are also a new favorite target for ransomware attacks. The last few years has seen this trend grow, as schools—especially public schools—are easy targets. Few have a dedicated cybersecurity team, yet they rely on many digital tools to coordinate their many activities, everything from school buses to grade reporting to managing registration.

    All of this data is highly sensitive and affects the safety of children, making a payout highly likely. It’s why hackers know they can charge a lot of money despite the low level of work needed to pull it all off. Buffalo Public Schools ended up paying out $10 million to criminals to get their data back.

    The increase has even gotten to the point where the term “cyber snow day” is now widely in use.

    It seems 2024 might show a little let up in these kinds of ransomware attacks, but we still have four more months to see how things go as school starts back up in the fall.

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Stay Safe, Stay Secure.

The CybersecurityHQ Team

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