According to a survey by the National Police Agency, cyberattacks called "ransomware" that encrypt data without permission and demand a ransom have been occurring one after another throughout the country, and more than 9% of the companies that were affected had an impact on their business. New tactics have been identified, and police are calling for increased security.
"Ransomware" is a cyberattack method that infiltrates the computers of companies and other organizations, encrypts data without permission, and demands money and crypto assets in exchange for restoration, and according to the National Police Agency, 6 cases of damage were confirmed nationwide in the six months to June, a slight decrease from 103 cases at the same period last year, but remains at a high level.
Nearly 114% of the victims were small and medium-sized enterprises, and regardless of the size of the company or organization, they are targets of attacks.
Of the 6 affected companies and organizations that responded to the National Police Agency's survey, 63 responded that "all business was halted due to ransomware" and 7 responded that "some operations were affected," affecting the business of 53% of companies and organizations.
Regarding the cost of damage investigation and restoration, 95% of the corporate organizations answered "100 million yen to less than 1000 million yen" and 43% answered "5000 million yen or more", highlighting the situation where the impact becomes serious once a victim occurs.
In addition, a new method called "nowhere ransom" that steals data without encrypting it and demands "pay if you don't want it to be exposed" has been confirmed recently, so the police are calling on companies to strengthen security.