Q2 2021 Report by Digital Shadow, Abridged

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Q2 2021 was among the most important ransomware periods, with several significant events taking place. Humans witnessed one of the biggest pipelines in the United States being targeted, new ransomware organizations emerging and some others disappearing this quarter. People witnessed renowned cybercriminal forums denouncing ransomware and certain law enforcement activities radically changing some ransomware operations. 

According to the recent report by Digital Shadows, a cybersecurity firm, more than 700 firms were attacked with ransomware and their information was dumped on data leak websites in Q2 of 2021. Of the nearly 2,600 victims mentioned on the data leak websites of ransomware, 740 were identified in Q2 2021, depicting a 47% rise over Q1. 

Digital Shadows researchers found an increase of 183% between the first quarter of 2012 and the second quarter in the retail sector with ransomware operations. 

Q1 2021 was driven by supply chain attacks, such as that of the Microsoft Exchange Server and SolarWinds, compared to the latest quarter when the present and the future threat environment of ransomware was defined. 

The report includes the quarter’s main events including the DarkSide Colonial Pipeline attack, the JBS attack on the world’s largest meat processor, and enhanced US and European law enforcement actions.