The government sector most targeted by ransomware in the second quarter of this year

Government, followed by telecommunications, and energy were the sectors most targeted by ransomware in the second quarter of 2021, according to a research report from cybersecurity firm McAfee.

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McAfee said there was a 64% increase in publicly reported cyber incidents targeting the public sector in the second quarter of 2021, followed by the entertainment industry with a 60% increase.

The shift to a flexible workforce has prompted cybercriminals to launch attacks with updated tactics in campaigns targeting high-profile industries.

“Ransomware has evolved far beyond its origins, and cybercriminals have become smarter and faster to pivot their tactics alongside a host of new patterns of malicious actors,” said Raj Samani, researcher in chief and chief researcher at McAfee Enterprise.

Ransomware increased its dominance with the attack on the U.S. colonial pipeline that disrupted the supply chain and affected much of the eastern United States.

McAfee said it has identified an increase in attacks by the DarkSide ransomware group against legal services, wholesale and manufacturing targets in the United States. The cybersecurity firm has also noted the activity of other ransomware groups, including Ryuk, REvil, Babuk and Cuba. REvil / Sodinokibi accounts for 73% of McAfee’s top 10 ransomware detections.

According to Samani, the cybercriminals behind these groups, as well as others, have managed to extort millions of dollars for personal gain.

As companies adopted a flexible working model, cloud security remained a challenge amid increasing workloads. This presented cybercriminals with more potential targets. The United States recorded the most cloud threat incidents and targets with 52% of recorded incidents, followed by India and Australia.

Among sectors, financial services were the most targeted among reported cloud incidents, followed by healthcare and manufacturing. Malware was most often used to launch attacks.