Since 2018,Belgium has been facing cybercriminals.
In fact, numerous cyberattacks are being carried out against several companies across the country. These attacks take many forms: CEO fraud, denial-of-service attacks, phishing attacks, ransomware attacks, and more…
The Prime Minister reports that there were three times as many reports of cyber incidents in 2019 as in 2018. In a single month, Belgium receives approximately 8,000 reports of potential phishing attempts per day.
Let’s take the example of the Picanol attack: the company fell victim to ransomware, which is a type of malicious software. This software takes the data on the infected organization’s network hostage, encrypts it, and locks the files on your computer. Finally, the cybercriminals demand a ransom in exchange for a decryption key.
This so-called key is rarely ever actually provided. Attackers mainly use it to steal your bank details and take your money.
Once the Picanol site was shut down, the employees were temporarily laid off for several days due to the system outage. (See the articlein L’Echo.)
This is also the case for Asco’s Zaventem plant, which was also hit by a ransomware attack. Cyberattackers always know who to target, since it is the group’s largest plant.
According to La voix du Nord, the attack also reportedly affected the group's sites in the United States, Canada, and Germany.
According to Tendances Trend, Belgium is among the Western countries most affected by cybercriminals.
