FINAL WORD
Persistence and growth of ransomware usage
The use of ransomware accelerated and became more dangerous than ever in 2020 . Targeted attacks against medical facilities during the pandemic crossed a line that had never before been approached . Ransomware will continue its rapid growth in 2021 and its varieties will increase along with the frequency of attacks . Postintrusion reconnaissance revealed that threat actors encrypt the most relied on and sensitive data and architecture , leading to higher ransom demands .
In 2021 , organisations need to be prepared for a ransomware attack . This means ensuring that networks are segmented , that an actual plan is in place and that tabletop exercises have been conducted with senior leaders and other key staff . This will ensure that everyone is ready to take optimal action in the event of an attack .
Organisations should have an incident response service-level agreement ( SLA ) in place . They should also establish secured backups that teams can revert to when necessary . Organisations are going to be targeted and they are going to be compromised , so it is crucial to have prevention and recovery strategies in place .
Espionage as an ongoing driver of nation-state activity
Major nation-state threat actors continuing efforts in 2021 will include Russia , China , Iran and North Korea . These countries are significant sponsors of threat activity , both regionally and globally . Beyond that , there has been an uptick in activity from Vietnam and South Asia .
Spear phishing is one of the most popular infection vectors when it comes to nation-state threat activity
Targeted attacks against medical facilities during the pandemic crossed a line that had never before been approached .
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