2021 saw an 82 per cent rise in data leaks from ransomware, report finds

Research by cybersecurity vendor CrowdStrike finds that, on average, businesses were hit with over 50 targeted ransomware attacks a week last year

New research from cybersecurity vendor CrowdStrike shows data leaks as a result of ransomware attacks soared by 82 per cent in 2021, compared with 2020.

The company's eighth annual Global Threat Report said it recorded 2,686 attacks as of December 31, 2021, which equated to an average of over 50 targeted ransomware events per week.

When it came to financial demands, this was also up double-digits with ransomware-related diktats averaging $6.1m per ransom, up 36 per cent year on year.

"As cyber criminals and nation states around the world continue to adapt in the changing, interconnected landscape, it's critical that businesses evolve to defend against these threats by integrating new technologies, solutions and strategies," warned senior vice president of intelligence at CrowdStrike Adam Meyers.

"The annual Global Threat Report paints a picture that shows enterprise risk is coalescing around three critical areas: endpoints and cloud workloads, identity and data."

The report found that financially motivated eCrime activity "continued to dominate the interactive intrusion attempts tracked by CrowdStrike OverWatch", with intrusions attributed to eCrime accounting for 49 per cent of all observed activity.

It also pointed to nation states activity as a continuing threat to cyber safety, with the likes of Iran, Russia, China and North Korea all suspected of employing various techniques to target systems.