According to research published on Tuesday, ransomware assaults against industrial organisations surged by 87% in 2022 compared to the previous year, with the majority of malicious malware targeting the manufacturing sector.
Last year, hackers attacked mining businesses in Australia and New Zealand, and they continued to target renewable energy companies in the United States and the European Union, according to a report by cybersecurity firm Dragos. According to the corporation, attackers also expanded or expedited their attacks on the energy, food, water, electrical, and natural gas sectors.
“They’re definitely going after manufacturing a heck of a lot more than electric and oil and gas,” said Robert M Lee, Dragos’ chief executive officer.
Dragos also discovered that a single hacking tool may interrupt tens of thousands of systems that aid in the management of global electrical infrastructure, gas pipelines, and water businesses. According to Dragos, the so-called Pipedream virus, which is linked to the threat organisation Chernovite, may be reused against targets in multiple industries and can disrupt a wide range of industrial systems.
Dragos also stated that dangers to the energy industry and key infrastructure have escalated after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. While Dragos stated that hostile activity was less severe than predicted, it also stated that one unnamed Ukrainian power utility was still under assault.
To prevent assaults in general, the business advised organisations to develop effective reaction strategies, invest in monitoring tools, and safeguard access to their systems by deploying two-factor authentication.
The revelation comes on the heels of previous reports indicating a decline in successful extortion-related hacking. According to the blockchain monitoring firm Chainalysis, payments to ransomware organisations fell drastically in 2022, with victims transferring $456.8 million to hackers, down from $765.5 million in 2021.
Ransomware assaults have crippled derivatives training and burdened public school systems in Arizona and Massachusetts in recent weeks.
