Ransomware threats are rising, and targeting Microsoft devices more and more

Ransomware assaults have by no means been this widespread, a brand new report from cybersecurity researchers Securin, Ivanti, and Cyware has acknowledged. 

New ransomware teams are rising continuously, and new vulnerabilities being exploited are being found virtually every day, the alert says, however out of all of the totally different {hardware} and software program, Microsoft’s merchandise are being focused essentially the most.

In common, attackers are now targeting more than 7,000 merchandise constructed by 121 distributors, all utilized by companies of their day-to-day operations. Most merchandise belong to Microsoft, which has 135 vulnerabilities related to ransomware, the researchers declare. For 59 vulnerabilities there’s a full MITRE ATT&CK kill chain, which incorporates two brand-new flaws. Eighteen flaws aren’t being flagged by antivirus packages, it was stated within the report. 

More hacking teams

In simply March 2023, there had been more breaches reported, than in all three earlier years mixed. It’s additionally necessary to say right here that the majority cybersecurity incidents by no means get reported, too. In the primary quarter of the yr, the researchers found 12 new vulnerabilities utilized in ransomware assaults, three-quarters of which (73%) have been trending in the dead of night internet. 

The variety of vulnerabilities found in open supply software program (OSS) can be rising, and now counts 119 flaws related to ransomware assaults. Since OSS is utilized by a rising variety of corporations, that is an “extremely pressing concern”, the researchers concluded. 

Now, 52 teams are engaged in ransomware assaults, since DEV-0569 and Karakurt entered the fray. 

If you suppose issues are worse than they ever have been – wait a number of months, because the researchers consider they’re about to get rather a lot worse. 

According to Srinivas Mukkamala, Chief Product Officer at Ivanti, as soon as synthetic intelligence (AI) begins getting (ab)used at scale, cyberattacks are going to get even more devastating. 

“We are only now starting to see the beginning of threat actors using AI to mount their attacks,” he says. “With polymorphic malware attacks and copilots for offensive computing becoming a reality, the situation will only become more complex. While not seen in the wild yet, it is only a matter of time before ransomware authors use AI to expand the list of vulnerabilities and exploits being used. This global challenge needs a global response to truly combat threat actors and keep them at bay.”

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