Ransomware attacks increase as more people work from home

According to a study published by the cybersecurity firm, Proofpoint, there has been an increase in the number of email-based phishing attacks used to deliver ransomware over the past few months.

Proofpoint noted a surge in phishing-based ransomware attacks during the COVID-19 pandemic https://t.co/rsDBxt7ZNY

— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) June 29, 2020

As per the report, first-stage deployments of ransomware are reportedly increasing and have mostly targetted the United States, France, Germany, Greece, and Italy.

The attacks seem to be capitalizing on the large number of people now working from home during the Coronavirus pandemic. Research indicates that the ransom demands are very low in comparison to the amounts usually noticed in these attacks.

Previously, a ransomware application called “Mr. Robot” has successfully targeted numerous people and businesses across the United States. Findings imply that this has changed in previous months, however, with home users becoming the major victims of the attack. To display the software’s new utilization, ransom amounts have reduced to as low as $100 in Bitcoin (BTC).

Ransomware is known as Avaddon distributed over one million messages in a single week. It too is known to target U.S. companies and individuals.

The hackers behind Avaddon usually demand $800 ransom payments, that too, in digital currency. Surprisingly, this particular team provides a “24/7 support” service to its victims, offering them advice on how to pay the ransom and how cryptocurrencies work.

Recently, the Cybersecurity firm Symantec blocked a ransomware attack focused at 30 U.S.-based firms and Fortune 500 companies.

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Ransomware attacks increase as more people work from home