Ransomware message getting through

The message around the dangers of ransomware appears to have got through to users with the levels of problems starting to decrease.

The security threat remains one of the fastest growing globally but the WannaCry attack on the NHS last May put the issue firmly on the agenda in many boardrooms up and down the country.

That seems to have had a real impact in slowing the pace of the impact of ransomware according to a market analysis from SonicWall.

The security firm reported that globally ransomware had increased by 229% in the first six months compared to last year but in the UK it had fallen by 34%.

"You can see that the awareness has increased. You can see it in the numbers. The second quarter it came down," said Bill Conner, CEO of SonicWall.

He added that there was plenty of work that still needed to be done because customers continued to expose themselves to threats.

The cloud that came with the silver lining of the ransomware performance was a significant increase in malware, up by 329% in the UK, compared to a 102% global hike.

"That is three times the global average and two times the European average," said Conner.

“Encrypted attacks are a critical challenge in the industry,” he added “Far too few organizations are aware that cyber criminals are using encryption to circumvent traditional networks security controls, and others aren’t activating new mitigation techniques, such Deep Packet Inspection of SSL and TLS traffic (DPI-SSL)."

SonicWall keeps tabs on what is happening with threats on a global scale and the firm is expecting that the pace of growth in malware is going to continue to be a feature.

"We predict encrypted attacks to increase in scale and sophistication until they become the standard for malware delivery. And we’re not that far off," added Conner.