Ransomware assaults on the upward thrust! Just about 2900 attacks by means of 85 telegram hacktivist teams between January-March – Trade Information

From the recent surge in Pakistan-linked APT groups during elections in India to the disruption of major Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) operations,  the rising tide of ransomware assaults pose a formidable challenge.  As per the  Seqrite report, there is an increase in the sale of access to Indian entities (both government and corporate) by initial access brokers in the underground forums. As a result, more than 2900 disruptive attacks such as DDoS, website defacement and database leaks by over 85 Telegram hacktivist groups in the first quarter of 2024. The report highlights the ransomware incident ratio is one per 650 detections. 

The latest insights paint a picture of escalating threats, with sophisticated attacks targeting governments, corporations and individuals alike.

 The report also revealed a recent surge in cyberattacks by Pakistan-linked APT groups such as SideCopy and APT36 (Transparent Tribe) not only targeting the Indian government and military bodies, particularly alarming amidst the ongoing elections but new spear-phishing campaigns such as Operation RusticWeb and FlightNight have emerged.

As Q-comm stretches itself, others play the patience game

Wipro expands retail media offering in collaboration with Cisco and AT&T

Coal India records 7.5% growth in production in May 2024, offtake rises by 7.2%

Tata Group reaping full benefits of AI: Chandrasekaran

Another crimeware report by Arete reveals that throughout Q1, law enforcement continued to pressure large Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) groups, significantly disrupting LockBit’s operations. While, with LockBit and ALPHV’s combined activity no longer comprising the majority of ransomware engagements, Arete observed a much broader and more evenly distributed threat landscape, with activity from groups including 8Base, BianLian, Black Basta, Cactus, DragonForce, Hunters International, HsHarada, Medusa, Phobos, Rhysida, and Trigona.

Additionally, the trend of fewer organisations paying ransoms continued, as a ransom was paid in 34 per cent of Arete engagements during the first quarter of 2024. 

Another survey report, Cybernomics 101 by Barracuda, identified that 71 per cent of respondents had experienced a ransomware attack over the last year, and 61 per cent paid the ransom.