Ransomware soars in 2016, while malware declines

A global cyberthreat report released Tuesday found that 2016 was a mixed bag: malware was down slightly, but ransomware attacks soared, up 167 times the number recorded in 2015.
In addition to that huge increase in ransomware, 2016 saw a new line of cybercrime from a large-scale DDoS attack through internet of things devices. The principal case occurred in October when the Mirai botnet attacked unprotected IoT devices, such as internet-ready cameras, resulting in a DDoS attack on Dyn servers.
The 2016 report, by cybersecurity company SonicWall, looked at data from daily network feeds sent from more than 1 million sensors in nearly 200 countries.
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We’ve entered a new era of cyber threats. It’s like no other that’s gone before, in that CISOs must battle not only the huge volume of “old threats” out there but also a growing array of stealthier new attacks designed to circumvent traditional tools. These could include certain types of targeted attacks, ransomware, zero-day threats,…

Michael Horowitz
