Supply chain seen as ransomware cyber attack weak link
2017 saw a worrying increase in ransomware and other cyberattacks targeting the supply chain, with the business and professional services sector receiving a significant increase of attacks, particularly in the EMEA region, which saw 20% of all attacks targeting this sector.
This is according to Dimension Data, which has published a report on cyber-threats.
Mark Thomas, Dimension Data’s Group CTO for Cybersecurity said: “There are numerous moving parts to supply chains and outsourcing companies, which often run on disparate and out-dated network infrastructures, making them easy prey to cyber threat actors. Service providers and outsourcers are also a prime target, due to their trade secrets and intellectual property. Businesses need to wise-up to the very real threats against them, and ensure all aspects of their operations are robustly and securely protected.”
In 2017, there was a 350% rise in ransomware, representing 7% of all global malware attacks (up from 1% in 2016), and is set to continue due to the popularity of cyber adversary campaigns.
In EMEA, ransomware accounted for nearly 30% of cyberattacks compared to the global average of 7%. EMEA was also the only region in which ransomware was the number one type of malware due to various cyberattack campaigns, including the WannaCry and NotPetya epidemic.
