Emsisoft: number of extortion virus attacks on US public sector decreased

   According to the company Emsisoft, the number of successful attacks of extortion viruses on the U.S. public sector has decreased significantly - in the first quarter, only 89 organizations were exposed to them.

The report of Emsisoft, a company specializing in cybersecurity, said that in the first quarter of this year, 89 organizations were victims of extortion viruses. As the coronavirus spread, the number of successful attacks decreased to levels "not seen for several years".

Thus, in January there were 19 attacks on government organizations, and in March their number decreased to 7. Similarly, the situation was developing in the education sector - 10 successful attacks in January, 14 in February and 2 in March. There were 10 attacks on organizations in the health sector in January and 3 in March.

The downward trend in the number of attacks by extortion viruses continued in Q2, with only 7 successful attacks recorded between April 1 and 20. According to Emsisoft, this decline can be explained by the coronavirus pandemic, as the suspension of many services and organizations reduces the number of possible targets for hackers.

While telecommuting can increase an organization's vulnerability to cybersecurity, Emsisoft says it paradoxically also creates new challenges for hackers. Emsisoft analyst Brett Callow explained:

"When setting up their infrastructure to support home operations, many organizations have improved security for remote access, which is often used by hackers to infiltrate corporate networks. For extortionists, it's most valuable to gain access to a corporate device, but now they're more likely to infiltrate a user's personal device that only periodically connects to corporate resources.

Emsisoft says the decline in extortion virus attacks is "temporary. Emsisoft technical director Fabian Wosar said:

"Companies suffer financially, many rely on government support programs to survive. I am sure the few companies that will suffer from hacker attacks in the coming weeks will go down - the attacks will be the straw that broke the camel's back.

Although Emsisoft's data suggest a decline in extortion virus attacks on the public sector, law enforcement agencies are concerned. Earlier this month, Interpol warned that cybercriminals had stepped up their efforts to spread extortion viruses into hospital information systems to obtain large ransoms in cryptographic software.