4 of the worst ransomware attacks since records began

With protecting your business online and ensuring that your Cyber Security is up to date and up to scratch having even more importance for all businesses across the UK, it is crucial to be able to understand the different forms that cyber-attacks come in and how they can access vulnerabilities in your security/systems. With this in mind, in this blog article we focus on 4 of the worst ransomware attacks since records began.

Before we delve into 4 of the worst ransomware attacks, let's just clarify exactly what ransomware is?

Essentially it is a type of software that threatens to publish the victim’s/business data or block access to it unless a ransom is paid to release it. The number of these attacks has rocketed internationally since 2012.

Ryuk

Given it’s name by a demon in Death Note, Ryuk made over £500,000 in just two weeks by specifically attacking organisations that were up against tight deadlines with victims including the LA Times as well as a water firm based in North Carolina. Despite the source code originating from a product of the North Korean Lazarus Group, it is widely reported that the originators came from Russia.

WannaCry

The main purpose of this attack was to focus on computers that were using Windows operating systems which struck in May 2017. In a single day, this ransomware had infected over 230,000 machines across 150 countries. The NHS in the UK was badly affected with over a third of NHS hospital trusts infected with the software, which was said to have cost them over £92m.

Sodinokibi and Travelex

This attack began on New Year’s Eve with hackers laying siege to the Travelex network which allowed them to steal customer data as well as more sensitive data such as credit card details, national insurance numbers & dates of birth. The people responsible for the attack who are calling themselves ‘Sodinokibi’ have demanded £4.6m in return. As of a few days ago, the currency exchange service websites all over the world are still down after 2 weeks.

RobbinHood

Back in 2019, the city government based in the US state of Baltimore discovered that its computer systems had been compromised by a highly aggressive ransomware which was referred to as RobbinHood with those responsible demanding 13 bitcoin (worth approx £78,600) to release the information. This attack caused chaos around property purchases, paying water bills and city charges to the tune of £13.8m.

If you have read the above article and want to ensure that the CyberSecurity of your business is not compromised then please get in touch with our team of IT experts who will be able to get your business CyberSecurity certified as well as offering you a number of additional protections through our tiered security support packages.

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