back to article We see you, ransomware flingers, testing out your baddest stuff on... Germany?

A security firm has floated the theory that malware authors are using German firms as a testing ground for their wares prior to wider distribution. Four in five (81 per cent) of ransomware detected in corporate environments occurred in North America. Germany is the second-most impacted country by ransomware, leading …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What OS's were the victims running?

    Might help people about to install a new system.

    1. a_yank_lurker

      Re: What OS's were the victims running?

      My first question about any outbreak is what are the targeted OSes and distros. Bloat is an automatic target, too many installs and too many inept users. But those do not mean Macs or Linux would not make good targets for some. While malware is not very common on many other platforms there is no technical reason why any malware could not be adapted to attack them.

  2. Frank Bitterlich
    Alien

    Occam's razor says...

    ... that it's more likely that ransomware is simply more effective in Germany than in other european countries. You attack people and companies that are most likely to pay up, and when I look at the sorry state of malware protection and backup at many german businesses, it figures.

    1. Wensleydale Cheese

      Re: Occam's razor says...

      I can confirm that last year there was a serious uptick in the number of email nasties coming my way which were in German.

      It seems to have dried up since the end of December, suggesting that someone either got closed down or had a contract until the end of the year.

    2. Trigonoceps occipitalis

      Re: Occam's razor says...

      May be it is the well known stereotype of a German. If the policy is not to open unknown links in an email a greater proportion of Germans will comply. If you can get your ransom ware delivered to a German company then change it from v0.9 to v1.0 and you're ready for the big time.

  3. Crazy Operations Guy

    Real numbers, please

    I hate it when press releases and news articles only contain percentages without any baseline numbers. Saying something increased by 667% means nothing to me unless I know what the number were to begin with.

    You could say that 50% of a town's population died. It could be one of those back-water towns in Montana with a population of two and one of them fell of their tractor, or you could be talking about New York and 10 million people died in a horrific apocalyptic disaster. One of those things I would just ignore as something that just happens, the other I'd be working day and night to keep it from happening again.

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