Ransomware attacks plagued enterprises across industries last year, but the malware threat will only escalate in 2017, according to a recent study.
In its “Beazley Breach Insights – January 2017” report, Beazley, a provider in data breach response insurance, projects that ransomware attacks will double again this year, much like they did in 2016. The company’s Breach Response division analyzed close to 2,000 data breaches to determine their findings.
“Ransomware attacks were over four times more numerous in 2016 than in 2015, with nearly half of the attacks on the healthcare sector,” according to the report. “Beazley projects these attacks will double again in 2017.”
The study also found that enterprises are more susceptible to ransomware attacks during busy financial reporting periods, such as the end of business quarters, in addition to frantic shopping periods for retailers.