Kai Vaughn

Above all else, hackers are all about the money. New research from cybersecurity and application delivery solutions provider Radware revealed that the top motivation behind cyberattacks is ransom, followed by insider threats, political hacktivism and competition. The biggest challenge in combating cyber ransom, Radware’s Global Application & Network Security Report 2016-2017 report noted, is that ransom is not only easy, but also every attack has its own vector, technique or angle. With hundreds of encrypting malware types available to cybercriminals today, the individuals perpetrating these malicious attacks are able to leverage various networks and applications to demonstrate their power and capabilities.

“One thing is clear: Money is the top motivator in the threat landscape today,” Carl Herberger, VP of security solutions at Radware, explained. “Attackers employ an ever-increasing number of tactics to steal valuable information, from ransom attacks that can lock up a company’s data, to DDoS attacks that act as a smoke screen for information theft, to direct brute force or injection attacks that grant direct access to internal data.

“Our report shows that most organizations are still not prepared to fend off many of the more sophisticated attacks. There is a vast market for mitigating attacks in progress and for defending against threats, both new and established, that grow in severity by the day. From our Emergency Response Team to our extensive products and services, Radware stands ready to guard organizations’ data, systems, and customers from harm,” Herberger continued. Last year saw a significant surge in the number of extortion threats, with the majority (56 percent) of the 600 organizations surveyed by Radware admitting that they have fallen victim to a cyber ransom attack and 41 percent identifying ransomware as the biggest cyber threat.