To stop ransomware attacks more effectively, startups need to get cybersecurity basics right TechCrunch

Department of Justice (DOJ) famously declared 2021 to be the “worst year” for ransomware attacks, but it looks like the title could soon be in the hands of 2022.

From the government’s seizure of $2.3 million in Bitcoin paid to hackers in the Colonial Pipeline to successfully sabotaging the infamous REvil gang, the past 12 months in the fight against hackers have seen some rare occurrences. Despite the victories, the ransomware threat continues to grow. In the past few months alone, we have seen attackers step up their attacks against public sector organizations, including hospitals, schools and, in the case of Costa Rica, the entire government. The private sector is also battling the growing threat of ransomware, with attackers claiming a number of high-profile victims such as his AMD, Foxconn, and Nvidia.

Founders of early-stage startups are no doubt concerned that even well-known organizations are failing to protect themselves from ransomware despite seemingly endless resources.

Emsisoft threat analyst Brett Callow said during a panel discussion on the TechCrunch+ stage of Disrupt 2022, “It could be a zero-day or a failure to implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) or MFA bypass. There is no simple answer and that is what makes this issue so difficult to deal with.”