Russians Lead In Ransomware Development
Russian based security company, Kaspersky, has confirmed 75% of crypto ransomware was developed by Russians or Russian-speaking individuals. To some, that may be surprising. For others, it may validate what they’ve assumed all along.
According to Computing, there were 47 crypto ransomware variants that were developed by Russians or Russian-speaking individuals in 2016. All of those variants combined infected roughly 1.4 million people worldwide. If that sounds like a lot of people, it is because it is. It is actually more people than the entire population of California’s second largest city, San Diego.
Senior malware analyst, Anton Ivanov from Kasperky stated,
“It is hard to draw strong conclusions on why so many of the ransomware families out there have a Russian origin, but it is safe to say that this is because there are a lot of well-educated and skilled code writers in Russia and its neighbouring countries.”
That statement seems to contradict itself. First, he claims it is hard to say why there are so many ransomware variants with Russian origins, but in his next breath he confirms it is due to “well-educated and skilled code writers” in the area. Although this may be true, perhaps these “well-educated and skilled code writers” could be working for the greater good, instead of infecting millions of innocent people to make a buck.
Ransomware Protection
To avoid being the next victim of ransomware, PC Matic encourages PC users to do the following:
- Implement a security solution that includes application whitelisting technology
- Back up your data on an external device
- Complete cyber security training
- Disable macros
- Verify all of your applications are updated
- Confirm your operating system is up to date
