Sophos’ Latest Report Delves into Ransomware Attacks Worldwide

According to one fresh report, India ranks within the 7 most ransomware-attacked nations, with such cyber assaults not simply targeting Windows PCs; however, Mac operating system, Linux and Android systems too in a considerably increased number of instances during 2017 across the globe.

Sophos, the company for world network as well as endpoint security states through the "SophosLabs 2018 Malware Forecast" report that ransomware assaults have not been targeting solely Windows PCs in significant numbers in the current year across the world; however, other devices such as MacOS, Linux and Android as well.

Moreover according to the report, there are now two attack methods against Android - blocking the phone's access devoid of data encryption or blocking the phone's access during its data encryption.

According to security researcher Dorka Palotay from Sophos Labs, ransomware strains are usually employed for attacking Windows computers; however in 2017, there has been a high number of crypto assaults against various 'operating systems' and devices that the company's customers use all over the globe. Palotay stated this on 4th November and Hindustantimes.com posted this on the web dated November 6, 2017.

Released during May 2017, WannaCry was the most prevalent ransom software detected on end-users' PCs, surpassing Cerber the lead ransomware, since long, after first emerging during the initial month of 2016. While SophosLabs tracked WannaCry at the rate of 45.3%, Cerber was tracked at 44.2%.

SophosLabs has analyzed that there has been a rise in total assaults every month during 2017 against Sophos customers who used Android phones. A particular reason the company believes of ransomware taking off from Android phones is that it yields cyber crooks money more easily than stealing SMS messages and contacts; launching pop-up advertisements; else executing bank phishing that depends on advanced hacking methodologies.

Another particular reason attributed to Android users being extremely cautious regarding what applications they download and from where is that ransomware is chiefly found within non-Google Play stores. In general, Sophos recommends users to regularly back up their smart-phones' data like it is done with computer data, while not pay ransoms simply for getting back access.

» SPAMfighter News - 11/14/2017