The number of ransomware attacks has gone down in recent months because sanctions against Russia are making it harder for cyber criminals to organise attacks and receive ransom payments, Rob Joyce, director of cybersecurity at the National Security Agency (NSA), has revealed. Ransomware attacks have long been a major cybersecurity issue for organisations around the world, affecting computer networks running critical infrastructure, hospitals, businesses and more.
"Ransomware is a huge aspect of where we learned cybersecurity is national security. And we're seeing the criminal element push through and impacting not only the businesses, but all the way into governments and society at large," said Joyce, speaking at the National Cyber Security Centre's (NCSC) Cyber UK event in Newport, Wales.
Many of the most notorious ransomware gangs are suspected to run out of Russia – and Joyce suggested that sanctions against Russia because of the invasion of Ukraine are making life difficult for cyber criminals based in the country, which has led to a reduction in attacks, at least for now. "One interesting trend we see is, in the last month or two, ransomware is actually down. There's probably a lot of different reasons why that is, but I think one impact is the fallout of Russia-Ukraine," said Joyce.
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