Brace for ransomware attacks, Midsize Pharma

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On the night of March 31, the REvil ransomware gang, one of the most prolific ransomware-as-a-service organizations, struck French multinational pharmaceutical and cosmetics giant Pierre Fabre. REvil's demand: $25 million.

It isn’t yet clear whether Pierre Fabre representatives paid the ransom to get its data decrypted. But one thing is certain: Ransomware attacks against pharmaceutical companies and the vendors that support them will continue trending upward, until the companies take important steps to better secure their computer systems.

In a report it published today, risk-monitoring company Black Kite found that nearly 10 percent of all pharmaceutical companies and 12 percent of their vendors are highly susceptible to ransomware. It says 47 percent of all pharmaceutical companies have more than 1,000 leaked employee credentials on the Dark Web. And those credentials are often used to initiate ransomware attacks.