Cybersecurity Firm Kaspersky Claims Ransomware Attacks Spiked in 2023

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky recorded a 181 percent increase in ransomware attacks happening on a daily basis, which in general affects 9,500 encrypted files each day globally. In Indonesia, ransomware took national headlines after Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI) was hit by such an attack. 

“This ransomware is a malware that locks a gadget or file that continues to grow in quality and quantity,” said Kaspersky Southeast Asia general manager Yeo Siang Tiong in a written statement on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.

Back in 2020, the company sounded the alarm for a global attack that used ransomware 2.0, which was known to take hostage of websites and companies using a specific tactic. Two years after, Kaspersky observed the emergence of a ransomware group that uses a blackmail tactic that hacks files and data, sells them in the black market, and uses DDoS attacks against victims and the victim’s customers.

Tiong said that the latter variant received the moniker Ransomware 3.0. 

Kaspersky data suggests that LockBit is the most productive ransomware for the Southeast Asian region that attacked 115 businesses, which also includes the latest BSI attack. 

The LockBit ransomware group, which is also a ransomware-as-a-service provider, successfully targeted large companies globally and in Southeast Asia including a major IT service provider. The group it even allegedly demanded a US$50 million ransom from a private school in Malaysia and a food manufacturer in Singapore.

The ransomware created by this notorious group used for highly targeted attacks against companies and other organizations is updated regularly and is now in version Lockbit 3.0. One of the company’s services that is designed to deter the ransomware attacks is Kaspersky Extended Detection and Response (XDR). 

MOH KHORY ALFARIZI

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