The year started off on a soursecuritynote.
Thousands of customers installed the tainted update, and cybercriminals were then able to access their systems.
The Russian government has denied involvement in the attack.
Again, Russia was blamed for the attack.
Tech companies weren’t immune either.Appleand Facebook had to deal with cyberthreats that endangered the security andprivacyof their users.
Ransomware, which encrypts a computer until victims pay for tools to unlock their data, is big business.
Cybercriminals have set their sights on major businesses that will pay big bucks to avoid being shut down.
That’s what happened in the headline-grabbing cases of Colonial Pipeline and JBS USA.
The two high-profile attacks were far from the only ransomware cases of 2021.
The figure easily surpassed the $416 million in suspicious payments reported for all of 2020.
The US government has pledged to step up its approach to fighting computer crimes.
In October, the White House convened aninternational counter-ransomware eventthat included representatives from more than 30 countries.
Group memberspledgedto share information and work together to track down and prosecute the cybercriminals behind ransomware attacks.
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Data privacy battles
Apple also found itself at a privacy crossroadsin 2021.
Apple also provoked controversy with a proposed feature that would scan its devices forimages of child exploitation.
Cybercriminals stole data from video game companyElectronic Artsthat included the source code for soccer game FIFA 21.
