Companies unprepared for strains of more complex ransomware

Organisations are unprepared for future strains of more sophisticated ransomware, according to the Cisco 2016 Midyear Cybersecurity Report. The struggle to constrain the operational space of attackers is the biggest challenge facing businesses and threatens the underlying foundation required for digital transformation, says the report.

Other key findings include adversaries expanding their focus to server-side attacks, evolving attack methods and increasing use of encryption to mask activity. So far in 2016, ransomware has become the most profitable malware type in history. Cisco expects this trend to continue with even more destructive ransomware that can spread by itself and hold entire networks, and companies, hostage.

The findings indicate that all vertical markets and global regions are being targeted. Geopolitical concerns include regulatory complexity and contradictory cybersecurity policies by country. Cisco's Talos researchers have observed that organisations can greatly enhance the security of their operations if they can take a few simple steps such as improving network hygiene, integrating defences, insisting on fastest time available to uncover threats, protecting users everywhere and backing up critical data.