Cyberattacks are increasing at an alarming rate, with vast effects on UK businesses. Lindy Cameron, the chief of countries’ National Cyber Security Center (NCSC), has affirmed. The assessments from the agency believe the Russian cybercriminals are behind the attacks.
The worrying bit of this trend is that these activities are becoming more successful. And at the end of the day, it poses a global challenge for countries. For example, UK-based businesses and other critical organizations have become the worst victims.
The History of Russia Implications in Cyberattacks
One of the recent cyberattack incidents led to the arrest of a 25-year-old man. The Ukrainian police arrested a culprit, believed to have hacked over 100 companies. Consequently, this caused damages amounting to over $150 million.
The truth is that Russia’s implications for cyberattacks are not new. Yet, it is the first time the UK has outrightly named Russia responsible for these attacks. It is a standard narrative that most cyber cartels operate from Russia. Several instances have occurred in the past, placing Russia at the center of all these.
For instance, on May 7, a colonial pipeline facility in Alabama was shut down after a cyberattack. A renowned ransomware cartel believed to operate in Russia was responsible for this. Not only that, but the same criminal attacked some US facilities like New Cooperative Inc. and meat supplier JBS.
The Disturbing Trend of Cyberattacks
Cyberattacks are increasing with time in scale, scope, and sophistication. 2020 alone recorded ransomware payments going up to $400 million. This is four times the record in 2019. Now, experts believe this number is likely to increase this year across the globe.
In a ransomware gold rush spree, the number of attacks is rising by over 90% in the first six months of 2021. Recent reports also point to the alarming damages caused by data breaches. Victims lose an average of $4.24 million per incident, a record high in over 17 years.
Some cybercriminals went dark for a while after succeeding in some of the worst attacks. The biggest fear is that this cool-off period is equipping them even to do worse. This is according to recent developments showing that cybercriminals are set to do more harm. So, this year and the next few years are likely to witness the biggest extortion schemes.
Final Words
Cybercrime is a big enemy to even some of the richest and equipped companies. With different methods to curb these disturbing effects, one thing remains unclear. How can individual countries take responsibility for cybercriminals thriving within their territories? Some of which extend their evils to other nations causing unmeasurable damages?