The Barracuda researchers believe that ransomware actors favor municipalities and education “because they are resource-constrained.” Healthcare and infrastructure organizations are lucrative targets because these industries “have an immediate and potentially severe impact on human lives, which cybercriminals try to exploit to increase the likelihood of getting paid.” “In many countries, one or more of these sectors may be legally obligated to report cybersecurity incidents, which makes the impact more visible as well,” reads the report. Overall attacks are increasing and Barracuda saw a rise in reported ransomware incidents in almost all of the 21 other sectors the firm analyzed.

Source: Infosecurity Magazine – Information Security & IT Security