Ransomware: Cyber criminals are coming for the Global South

Ransomware cyber-attack - 'WannaCry' hit about 150 countries worldwide.

In a tweet posted on February 11, the Center Hospitalier de Dax-Côte d'Argent revealed that it had fallen prey to a cyber-attack and was trying to restore systems that included the telephone switchboard.

The US​ government has declared a regional emergency after a cyberattack​ forced the shutdown of a key oil pipeline​ stretching nearly 9,000 kilometres along the US East Coast. The attack on Colonial Pipeline's system has yet again exposed the vulnerabilities of critical infrastructure to cybercrime, amid increasing hacking activity around the world. Plus, Elon Musk's rocket company says it accepts dogecoin as payment for its planned lunar mission next year. The announcement comes after the price of the meme-inspired cryptocurrency dropped by a third following comments by Musk, who called it a "hustle".

Ireland's health regulator said the shutdown of health system computers is a precaution and the COVID vaccination program is unaffected.

In this edition, we tell you more about the growing threat of ransomware attacks. Since the beginning of 2021, the total amount paid by cyberattack victims in ransoms has reportedly reached $18 billion, with the number of attacks increasing by 300 percent in the US alone.

US IT company Kaseya urged its customers to shut down their servers after hackers smuggled ransomware onto its network. Such attacks infiltrate widely-used software and demand ransom to regain access.

Hackers are targeting governments and public institutions in middle-income and developing countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa. They extort millions — and often find easy targets.