Ransomware 2024: A Year Of Tricks, Traps, Wins And Losses
SC Media, Tuesday, December 31st, 2024
Ransomware criminals in 2024 stooped to new lows and high-level black hat trade craft. Targets included critical industries such as healthcare, public infrastructure, and the cloud.
Notable was the rise of ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS), allowing a new class of rookie attackers to perpetrate devastating campaigns. Meanwhile nation-state actors transformed ransomware into a tool for geopolitical weapon. This year in ransomware underscored the challenges cybersecurity professionals face and costly consequences.
This year's attacks underscore that ransomware is no longer just an IT issue - it is a threat to lives, economies, and national security. The following examples show the devastating consequences of even a single attack, from halting patient care to undermining infrastructure and funding geopolitical adversaries.