'Dharma' ransomware attacking SMBs, average loss is nearly Rs 6.4 lakh

NEW DELHI: Small and medium businesses (SMBs) are witnessing an increased ransomware attack globally, including in India, this year and the ransom demands have reached nearly $8,620 (nearly Rs 6.4 lakh) on average in the pandemic times.

The "Dharma" ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) attacks are troubling small and mid-sized businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic and the cybersecurity firm Sophos has witnessed 85 per cent of such attacks focusing on exposed access tools like Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).

"Dharma is fast-food franchise ransomware: widely and easily available to just about anyone," said Sean Gallagher, senior threat researcher at Sophos.

"That's worrying enough in itself in normal times. But right now, with many businesses adapting to the pandemic and accommodating a need for rapid support for remote workers, and IT staffs stretched thin, the risks from these attacks are magnified," Gallagher said in a statement.

"Dharma" has been known since 2016, and is one of the most profitable ransomware families around, due to its mass-market, service-based business model.

Various iterations of its source code have been dumped online or offered for sale, so many variants of the code now exist. (IANS) 

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