Between April 2022 and March 2023, the UK became the second most attacked country in the world, falling victim to the growing influence of ransomware gangs. Worryingly, the UK education system is being targeted at an unprecedented rate. Understanding how ransomware is infiltrating organisations, what groups they must look out for and how they can shore up their defences is, therefore, critical.
Between April 2022 and March 2023, the UK was a prime target for ransomware gangs. During that period the education sector was hit far harder than in other countries. Education was the target in 16% of known attacks in the UK, but only 4% in France and Germany, and 7% in the USA. The culprit seems to be bad actors known as Vice Society, an extremely dangerous ransomware group with an appetite for the education sector.
In 2022, LockBit was used in 31% of known attacks globally, 3.5 times more than its nearest competitor, ALPHV. Given its global preeminence, LockBit was also the most widely used ransomware in the UK in the last twelve months.
However, in the UK, Vice Society was second, not ALPHV.
In fact, the UK is one of Vice Society's favourite targets, accounting for 21% of the group's known attacks in the last 12 months, a close second to the USA which accounted for 23%, and vastly more than the next country, Spain, which accounted for 8%.