Zscaler Ransomware Report Reveals Sophisticated Double Extortion Attacks Are Targeting Essential Industries

PRESS RELEASE

SAN JOSE, Calif., May 13, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS), the leader in cloud security, today announced its new Ransomware Report featuring analysis of key ransomware trends and details about the most prolific ransomware actors, their attack tactics and the most vulnerable industries being targeted. The Zscaler™ ThreatLabz embedded research team analyzed over 150 billion platform transactions and 36.5 billion blocked attacks between November 2019 and January 2021 to identify emerging ransomware variants, their origins, and how to stop them. The report also outlines a growing risk from “double-extortion” attacks, which are being increasingly used by cybercriminals to disrupt businesses and hold data hostage for ransom.

“Over the last few years, the ransomware threat has become increasingly dangerous, with new methods like double extortion and DDoS attacks making it easy for cybercriminals to sabotage organizations and do long-term damage to their reputation,” said Deepen Desai, CISO and VP of Security Research at Zscaler. “Our team expects ransomware attacks to become increasingly targeted in nature where the cybercriminals hit organizations with a higher likelihood of ransom payout. We analyzed recent ransomware attacks where cybercriminals had the knowledge of things like the victim's cyber insurance coverage as well as critical supply-chain vendors bringing them in the crosshairs of these attacks. As such, it is critical for businesses to better understand the risk ransomware represents and take proper precautions to avoid an attack. Always patch vulnerabilities, educate employees on spotting suspicious emails, back up data regularly, implement data loss prevention strategy, and use zero trust architecture to minimize the attack surface and prevent lateral movement.”

According to the World Economic Forum 2020 Global Risk Report¹, ransomware was the third most common, and second most damaging type of malware attack recorded in 2020. With payouts averaging $1.45M per incident, it's not difficult to see why cybercriminals are increasingly flocking to this new style of high-tech extortion. As the rewards that result from this type of crime increase, risks to government entities, company bottom lines, reputation, data integrity, customer confidence, and business continuity also grow. Zscaler’s research supports the narrative recently established by the U.S. federal government, which classifies ransomware a national security threat; underscoring the need to prioritize mitigation and contingency measures when protecting against these ongoing threats.

Double-Extortion - the New Preferred Method
In late 2019, ThreatLabz noticed a growing preference for “double-extortion” attacks in some of the more active and impactful ransomware families. These attacks are defined by a combination of unwanted encryption of sensitive data by malicious actors and exfiltration of the most consequential files to hold for ransom. Affected organizations, even if they are able to recover the data from backups, are then threatened with public exposure of their stolen data by criminal groups demanding ransom. In late 2020, the team noticed that this tactic was further augmented with synchronized DDoS attacks, overloading victim’s websites and putting additional pressure on organizations to cooperate.

According to Zscaler ThreatLabZ, many different industries have been targeted over the past two years by double-extortion ransomware attacks. The most targeted industries include the following:
1)   Manufacturing (12.7%)
2)   Services (8.9%)
3)   Transportation (8.8%)
4)   Retail & wholesale (8.3%)
5)   Technology (8%)

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/087a5067-e973-42d8-be42-72e4ddcff0ce

Most Active in Ransomware
Over the last year, ThreatLabz has identified seven “families” of ransomware that were encountered more often than others. The report discusses the origins and tactics of the following top five highly active groups:

The full Zscaler ransomware review is now available to the general public. Please see “ThreatLabZ Ransomware Review: The Advent of Double Extortion” for more information.

To hear more from the ThreatLabZ team about ransomware join the “Advances in Ransomware” session at Zenith Live, Zscaler’s virtual event happening June 15th. Register for free today.

___________________________
¹ https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-risks-report-2020

About Zscaler
Zscaler (NASDAQ: ZS) accelerates digital transformation so customers can be more agile, efficient, resilient, and secure. The Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange protects thousands of customers from cyberattacks and data loss by securely connecting users, devices, and applications in any location. Distributed across more than 150 data centers globally, the SASE-based Zero Trust Exchange is the world’s largest in-line cloud security platform.

Zscaler™ and the other trademarks listed at https://www.zscaler.com/legal/trademarks are either (i) registered trademarks or service marks or (ii) trademarks or service marks of Zscaler, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Any other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.

Media Contacts
Natalia Wodecki
Global PR Director
[email protected]