Zscaler report reveals rise in global ransomware attacks

Cybersecurity company Zscaler has revealed an 18% rise in ransomware incidents globally - with alarming findings on ransom payments and industry targets.

The Zscaler ThreatLabz 2024 Ransomware Report highlighted a record-breaking ransom payment of USD $75 million attributed to the Dark Angels ransomware group. This figure is nearly double the highest publicly known ransomware payout, underscoring the seriousness of the threat landscape.

Australia was named as the seventh most targeted country by ransomware, accounting for 2% of global incidents. Eric Swift, Area Vice President for ANZ at Zscaler, commented on Australia's situation: "The cyber threat landscape is constantly evolving and we are regularly seeing Australia placing in the top countries in ransomware, phishing and encrypted attacks. The increasing use of ransomware-as-a-service models, along with numerous zero-day attacks on legacy systems, and the emergence of AI-powered attacks reiterates the need for a Zero Trust approach."

Globally, the manufacturing sector was the most affected, suffering more than twice the number of attacks compared to other industries. Following manufacturing, healthcare, technology, and education sectors faced significant threats. In Australia, transportation services emerged as the primary industry target, followed by manufacturing and real estate.

The report identified 19 new ransomware families over the analysis period, pushing the total to 391 since Zscaler began tracking.

Chief Security Officer at Zscaler, Deepen Desai, emphasised the growing threat of ransomware.

"Ransomware defense remains a top priority for CISOs in 2024. The increasing use of ransomware-as-a-service models, along with numerous zero-day attacks on legacy systems, a rise in vishing attacks and the emergence of AI-powered attacks, has led to record breaking ransom payments."

In terms of geographic impact, the United States accounted for nearly half of all ransomware attacks worldwide. Australia saw a year-over-year increase of 5.8% in ransomware incidents, making it the most impacted nation in the Asia-Pacific region, followed by India, Japan, and Thailand.

Desai further stated that organisations need to adopt Zero Trust architecture to fortify their security against ransomware, saying, "Organisations must prioritise Zero Trust architecture to strengthen their security posture against ransomware attacks."

"This is where an AI-powered Zero Trust platform like Zscaler helps organisations fast-track their segmentation journeys, reducing the blast radius as well as shutting down unknown vectors for future AI-driven attacks."

The most active ransomware families accounted for a significant portion of attacks, including LockBit, BlackCat (also known as ALPHV), and 8Base. The report highlighted Dark Angels, LockBit, BlackCat, Akira, and Black Basta as the top five ransomware families to watch over the next year.

Zscaler continues efforts to mitigate ransomware threats through its Zero Trust approach, focusing on minimising the attack surface, preventing initial compromise, eliminating lateral movement, and stopping data loss.