Healthcare, Education Sectors Likely Prime Targets For Ransomware Attacks In 2025 - Sophos

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 18 (Bernama) -- Healthcare and education sectors are expected to be the prime targets for ransomware attacks next year, according to cybersecurity solutions provider Sophos Ltd.

In its 2025 technology prediction note, Sophos said this is due to both sectors’ limited cybersecurity budgets, reliance on outdated systems, and the sensitive nature of their data.

Sophos director and global field chief technology officer (CTO) Chester Wisniewski said, "in the case of healthcare, ransomware attacks disrupt essential, life-saving operations, and you have a perfect storm of pressure that helps attackers secure quick ransom payments.” 

The company said artificial intelligence (AI) will also become a target for vulnerabilities, malware and attacks. 

Sophos X-Ops director Christopher Budd noted that Microsoft has been issuing patches for AI products over the past year, and Sophos is starting to see how attackers could use large language models (LLMs) to deploy malware such as trojans.

“In the next year, a clearer picture will emerge of the risks of AI and AI users, and security professionals will need to figure out the best way to patch these vulnerabilities,” he said.

Furthermore, Sophos senior data scientist Ben Gelman said the next evolution in using LLMs will be chaining them together to create more complex tasks.

“So, rather than opening up ChatGPT and asking it to write a line of code, researchers and possibly cybercriminals will orchestrate multiple LLMs and other AI models to carry out more complex tasks like automated cybersecurity penetration systems, customer service, and integrated assistants,” he opined.

Looking ahead, the company underscored the significance of proactive measures, such as prioritising “patching”, implementing “multi-factor authentication”, and addressing cybersecurity burnout among professionals.

Sophos field CTO Aaron Bugal said cybersecurity professionals feel exhausted because they work with insufficient resources and outdated or underutilised technology. 

“Organisations should look for ways to identify burnout within employees, look for ways to harness technology and leverage ‘managed detection and response services’ from security vendors to help scale stretched employees,” he said.

As a background, ransomware occurs when a hacker locks someone’s files and demands money to release the files; malware is any software specifically designed to damage or turn off a computer system; and LLMs are AI systems trained on large text datasets to understand and generate human-like language.

-- BERNAMA