Who Are The Targets?

Ransomware doesn’t discriminate when it comes to business targets, Cobb said. While certain verticals, such as health care, are getting a lot of the attention when it comes to ransomware, Cobb said it affects businesses in all industries fairly evenly. And ransomware doesn’t have a bias when it comes to business size, he said, with organizations both large and small susceptible to ransomware attacks. Cobb said ESET also sees attackers taking both targeted and broad-reach approaches when it comes to ransomware attacks. That's a shift from years past, he said, when ransomware was primarily a "shotgun" approach by hackers.

"We're seeing indications that lots of businesses are getting hit by ransomware, some of which do appear to be targeted," Cobb said.