Cybersecurity

FBI Warns U.S. Organizations About High Impact Ransomware

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) issued a public service announcement today regarding the increasing number of high-impact ransomware attacks against public and private U.S. organizations.  

"Since early 2018, the incidence of broad, indiscriminant ransomware campaigns has sharply declined, but the losses from ransomware attacks have increased significantly, according to complaints received by IC3 and FBI case information," says the FBI.

"Although state and local governments have been particularly visible targets for ransomware attacks, ransomware actors have also targeted health care organizations, industrial companies, and the transportation sector."

Threat actors are using several methods to infect their targets with ransomware including large scale or targeted phishing campaigns and exploiting software and Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) vulnerabilities to get a foothold on their victims' systems before encrypting their systems.