IT security andh software company Symantec has released their latest volume of Internet security threat report and some of these facts written in the report are astonishing. These report states that the U.S is the most targeted country for the ransomware and number of people willing to pay for ransomware was also highest in the US.
A massive increase in the Ransomware:
Compared to last year, ransomware attacks have increased by at least 36% in this year. Not only this, but Symantec has also spotted more than 100 new ransomware, and most of these are targeting residents of the U.S. Further, the reports also suggest that the rate of people paying for the ransomware worldwide was only 34%, while in the U.S alone, this rate was found to be 64%. In last year an average of $294 per victim was demanded by hackers. However, in this year the number increased to $1077.
Director of Symantec, Kevin Haley, said in an interview that, “It is the country with the most connected computers in the world with a high standard of living and the capability of paying are also mostly willing to pay. It is no big surprise, then, that the written amount of ransomware has gone up and which the U.S. is the number one target.”
He said that as long as the people are willing to pay for the ransomware, this demand per victim will go on increasing furthermore shortly.
Not Just Ransomware!
Not only were there an increase in ransomware attacks, but Symantec also noted a general increase in other cyber-attacks as well including DDoS attacks, phishing scams, data breaches and the government entities weren’t spared either.