Rise of ransomware and spyware targeting industrial systems

Kaspersky has just released its Q2-2024 report analyzing the overall cybersecurity landscape for industrial control systems (ICS). Accordingly, the number of ransomware attacks increased by 20% compared to the previous quarter.

The report finds that critical infrastructure sectors around the world are facing increasing risks from cyber attacks, with ransomware and spyware posing the most serious threats.

According to Kaspersky research, the proportion of industrial control computers (ICS computers) globally at risk of becoming targets of cyberattacks has decreased slightly from 24.4% in Q1-2024 to 23.5% in Q2-2024. However, the number of ransomware attacks has increased sharply, with the proportion of ICS computers affected by ransomware increasing 1.2 times compared to the previous quarter. The report also stated that spyware is a persistent threat. Attackers can use spyware to conduct espionage activities, paving the way for ransomware and targeted attacks.

“Malware that is as dangerous as ransomware can disrupt critical operations in any industry, from manufacturing, energy, transportation and others. Spyware, on the other hand, is often used to steal private information from businesses and resell it on the dark web to criminal gangs that use ransomware for extortion, hackers who carry out cyberattacks for political or social purposes (hacktivists) or advanced persistent threat actors (APTs) for use in future attacks,” said Evgeny Goncharov, head of Kaspersky Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity Emergency Response Team (ICS CERT).

BINH LAM