News of the spike comes as Americans brace for a chaotic election — and a bumpy flu season that could exacerbate the ongoing effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
And it follows a series of attacks that became highly publicized last week: One targeting Tyler Technologies, a software vendor used by numerous local governments, and Universal Health Services, one of the nation's largest hospital companies.
US hospital networks have been among the most popular targets for ransomware attackers, accounting for 16 percent of the quarter's overall volume, said Check Point threat analyst Lotem Finkelsteen, who published a report on the findings Tuesday. Hospitals are viewed as a critical piece of the nation's coronavirus response, and their need to remain up and running at all costs has emboldened attackers who've become increasingly confident in a quick payday, said Finkelsteen.
Paying off hackers might seem like a quick solution to an immediate problem. But experts warn that paying ransoms only creates more incentives for attacks to continue. The US government finally got involved last week, as the Treasury Department issued two warnings that paying off hackers, or facilitating a ransom payment on behalf of a victim, could be considered a US sanctions violation if the recipient is located in a target country.
Refusing to pay ransoms could lead to short-term pain, including the release of compromised internal data on the internet, said Finkelsteen. But, he warned, the current trend of payments points to a worse outcome: Hackers funneling their proceeds into research and development to create even more potent forms of ransomware.
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