Thirty-four p.c of state and native authorities entities had been hit by ransomware in 2024, a brand new report from Sophos has discovered.
Whereas it is a lower in comparison with the assault price in 2023, the imply value of restoration for these entities has greater than doubled to $2.83 million.
Seventy-two p.c of ransom calls for made to state and native authorities organizations in 2024 had been for $1 million or extra, with 37% of calls for for $5 million or extra.
The report discovered that almost all ransomware assaults towards authorities entities in 2024 started with compromised credentials, that are often obtained by way of phishing, credential stuffing, or knowledge breaches.
“Compromised credentials had been the commonest technique of entry (49%), adopted by exploited vulnerabilities (24%),” the researchers write. “For comparability, exploited vulnerabilities had been the commonest technique of compromise in 2023. The examine reveals that the entire authorities sector is especially prone to assaults that begin with abuse of compromised credentials, with 47% of affected central/federal authorities organizations having skilled assaults beginning on this approach.”
Worker consciousness coaching supplies a vital layer of protection towards ransomware assaults. Sophos concludes, “The most effective ransomware assault is the one which didn’t occur as a result of the adversaries couldn’t get into your group. Nearly 1 / 4 (24%) of respondents say that assaults begin with the exploitation of unpatched vulnerabilities in state and native authorities, so it’s necessary to take management of your assault floor and deploy risk-based prioritization of patching.
Using MFA to restrict credential abuse also needs to be a precedence for each group. Ongoing person coaching on the way to detect phishing and malicious emails stays important.”
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Sophos has the story.