The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) investigators have recently claimed that they have thwarted over 500 ransom cyber attacks in just 3 years, starting from 2021. Not only that, they also seized billions of dollars in cryptocurrency.
As per the reports of October 4, which were submitted by Mike Prado, the Deputy Assistant Director of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Cyber Crime Center, the majority of the attacks were targeted at various US agencies.
What Are Ransom Attacks?
The ransomware attack is caused by ransomware, which is a dangerous malware that locks users out of their devices until a ransom is paid. It can cause a lot of problems like data loss, and intellectual property theft. The ransom attack is considered a data breach in certain industries.
In most cases, the malware is transmitted through phishing emails. When the user opens the said email, the malware gathers information from the system and encrypts the files on this system, ensuring that the user is locked out of the system. After locking out the user, ransom is demanded to unlock the contents.
How Does Crypto Ransomware Work
As per the statements made by Mike Prado, the cybersecurity agents keep a constant watch on the internet traffic, looking for any signs of malicious activities and vulnerabilities of the system, that the hackers may utilize to get into the system.
However, the major task is to predict the attack. The agents have to predict the time of attack in some cases. In such cases, they have to predict the breach, even before it happens, to prevent any data from being locked or stolen.
Upon learning of a potential attack, the HSI agents with the help of several field officers alert the affected organizations, to help boost their defense. This is done in order to prevent any data breach on their part.
With this continuous monitoring of the internet traffic, the HSI already has many groups on its radar and is constantly monitoring them, according to Prado. He also made public that there were also many gangs outside of the US, who were looking for ways to obtain cryptocurrencies.
Statical analysis of cases
As per various reports, in just the financial year from October 2023 to September 30, the HSI has already successfully disrupted 150 ransom attacks. Since its establishment in 2021, the number of successful prevention of ransom attacks has been 537.
Also, it was found that 21% of the disrupted attacks were targeting US agencies. In 2023, almost $1 billion was paid as ransom through crypto. By 2024, there was an increase in ransomware attacks by 2%.
As per the reports made by various blockchain analysts in DHS, it was shown that the scammers are getting bolder day by day. With each demand, they are gradually increasing their ransom pay. By 2023, the ransom payments made by victims were already crossing the 1 billion mark.
How to protect your data from ransomware?
To protect yourself from ransomware attacks, you can employ different methods. Some of them are listed below.
When using a public network, use a VPN.
Do not click on unsafe/unknown links.
Do not disclose your personal information to anyone.
If you see suspicious mail on your computer, do not open it.
Regularly update your programs and software.
Try not to download anything from unknown sites.
Conclusion
With cybercrimes increasing day by day, the DHS is doing an excellent job of protecting our information and data from hackers. But they can only do so much, everybody has their limit. So, if you want to safeguard your data from external sources, try to follow the instructions specified above.
Employing anti-virus software or content filters also goes a long way to protect your data. Also, you can ensure that your data is backed up constantly, in case your computer gets infected, to avoid any data loss on your part.
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