Why Cyber-resilience is Crucial

In recent years, ransomware attacks have become more regular, stealthy, and expensive. They have also been developing swiftly.

Even for those lacking experience, new ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) models provide pre-made avenues for financial gain for would-be threat actors. Attackers are also reinventing traditional strategies at the same time. Some are combining data theft and encryption into double extortion, increasing the strain on their victims. Some have invented "encryption-less" attacks, concentrating only on the possibility of a leak. Traditional ways of decrypting and recovering files are becoming less practical as new techniques develop.

Over $1.1 billion - that's how much ransomware gangs raked in last year, according to blockchain analyst Chainalysis. Does this astronomical figure say more about the sophistication of the adversary, or is it an indictment of our overall resilience to cyberattacks? Realistically, it’s a bit of both.

The healthcare sector exemplifies this reality. While healthcare facilities must continually ramp up cybersecurity efforts , the high value of personal health information (PHI) has made them an attractive target for cyber attackers. According to the Singapore Ministry of Health, PHI is 50 times more valuable on the black market than financial data because of its immutable nature, as it follows one throughout their lifespan, and can be exploited for identity theft to make fraudulent insurance claims or gain illegal access to prescriptions; among other nefarious purposes.