Ransomware continues to be one of the single biggest threats to government networks, and IT professionals are increasingly worried about employees who work remotely ignoring security guidance and clicking on malware-infested links or attachments. Their concerns are justified, particularly regarding highly evasive adaptive threats that target web browsers and take active measures to avoid detection by current-generation security. These attacks have increased by more than 220% in the past year and can target worker credentials as a precursor to launching a ransomware attack.
Those concerns are well-founded according to a new survey, which reports that one-third of respondents said they experience a ransomware attack at least once a week – with nine percent saying they are attacked more than once a day. And IT security professionals fear they can’t keep up with the increased rate of attacks. Public sector professionals, including state and local agencies, were the third-largest group to participate in the survey.
Listen to thought leaders from government and industry discuss the nature of malware and the steps that agencies should take to guard against falling victim to these emerging threats.