French insurance and financial sector targeted by cyberattacks

According to the ANOZR WAY Ransomware Barometer 2021, France is the target of 5% of global ransomware attacks. The country is thus first in continental Europe in terms of the number of alleged attacks.

In 2021, companies in France recorded a loss of revenue of 26.7% of their turnover, in otherwise 2.5 billion EUR (2.8 billion USD). This figure doesn't include the cost of ransoms that have been paid.

Insurance and financial sectors fuel the hackers' greed. Last year, several French insurers fell prey to hacking with ransom demands. This is the case of April, Axa (via its subsidiary Axa Partners in Asia), Verlingue, AssurOne, Stelliant, MNH (Mutuelle Nationale des Hospitaliers) and MMA. This trend can be traced back to the large capacity of companies in the sector to pay ransoms as well as the importance and sensitivity of the data that hackers can access. Such data is then used to carry out other attacks (domino effect).

In its barometer, ANOZR WAY predicts a doubling of the number of ransomware attacks in 2022.