Last year, Ransomware attacks reportedly hit 80% of the organizations and more than 60% of those who were hit by the attacks paid the ransom. Not surprising, this year too, ransomware attacks continue to target companies, with bad actors constantly finding newer ways to compromise data and networks.
The recent case in point is KP Snacks, an UK-based producer of popular snacks that has been hit by the Conti ransomware group affecting its distribution to leading supermarkets.
It isn’t clear if KP Snacks is currently negotiating with Conti or if it will pay a ransom even though the company said that since they became aware of the incident, they initiated a cybersecurity response plan and its IT teams are working with third party security experts to assess the situation.
Conti, a Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) operation linked to the Wizard Spider Russian cybercrime group, also known for other notorious malware, including Ryuk, TrickBot, and BazarLoader, is repeatedly targeting high-profile organizations in recent weeks.
Last month, Conti claimed responsibility for attacking Bank Indonesia, the country’s central bank, and began leaking its data. In December 2021, Conti had breached the systems of Nordic Choice hotel group, freezing the hotel properties’ key cards.
Not just Conti, a new report has found that 32 new ransomware families appeared in 2021, bringing the total to 157, a 26% increase over the previous year.
According to GlobalData, top consumer brands fall short when it comes to cybersecurity. George Henry, Consumer Analyst at GlobalData, said, “The attack on KP Snacks is unfortunately unsurprising, given the rapid increase of cyber-attacks. We are likely to see more in 2022. Although this was an attack on the company’s digital infrastructure, the real-life consequences will be its compromised ability to safely process orders and dispatch products.”
