Well, folks, the hackers are at it again. Just a few days ago, the governor of Louisiana declared a state of emergency after New Orleans was hit with a ransomware attack. The city had to shut down more than 4,000 government computers and servers.

This wasn’t your neighborhood hack, though. Authorities are pointing the finger at Ryuk ransomware hackers, who are much more sophisticated.

Put simply, Ryuk ransomware allows a hacker to take control over a computer or device, encrypt the files and only decrypt the files once a ransom is paid, usually via Bitcoin. And the hacker can hide for months until they’re ready to strike. Unfortunately, the hackers behind Ryuk are very aggressive, and they know how to do a lot of damage once they get into your network.

It’s so serious that the Center for Internet Security (CIS) dubbed Ryuk ransomware the “Fall 2019 Threat of the Quarter.”

This is the second time Louisiana has had to declare a state of emergency because of cyberattacks. Back in July, a series of cyberattacks shut down computer systems in three school districts in Morehouse, Ouachita and Sabine parishes.

Louisiana isn’t its only victim of Ryuk ransomware, though. Since August 2018, hackers have used the ransomware on more than 100 U.S. and international businesses. In fact, just this past June, they made more than $1.1 million from just local governments in Florida! Clearly, this group of hackers mean business.

The truth of the matter is that cybersecurity needs to be taken seriously. Experts calculated that cyberattacks occur every 14 seconds. This equals out to more than 25 attacks per hour and more than 100 a day. However, these can take companies more than six months to spot. Not to mention that the cost is huge. As of 2019, that cost is more than $1.6 million, and since 43% of cyberattacks are on small businesses, that money can force a company to close its doors for good.

Luckily, these high-profile cases are becoming a wake-up call for many folks. By the end of 2021, analysts are forecasting companies to spend over $1 trillion worldwide.

The Best Defense Is a Good Offense

At the end of the day, the best defense for cyberattacks is a good offense. In this case, that offense is buying the right cybersecurity software. And the companies that make the best of the best will be the cyber go-tos for investors.

There is one cybersecurity company that is one of those go-tos. It provides unified security solutions that can be deployed over digital networks to protect users against malware, spam and network intrusions. And it uses artificial intelligence (A.I.) to analyze over 100 billion security events to help stay ahead of potential cybersecurity threats. This gives it a major advantage over competitors.

The stock is up 50% year-to-date, hit a brand-new 52-week high just yesterday and continues to showcase excellent earnings and sales growth. So, I expect this stock to keep moving higher well into next year.

If you’d like to learn more, sign up here for my Growth Investor service. Once you do, I’ll give you the name of the company and my free report, The One AI Company Set to Corner the Booming Cybersecurity Industry, where I go into all the specifics on this cybersecurity company and talk more in-depth about why I believe cybersecurity is virtually guaranteed to soar. Get the details now.

In addition, you’ll have 100% access to my artificial intelligence report, The A.I. Master Key, which includes my number-one A.I. recommendation. This stock also hit a new 52-week high yesterday!

I strongly encourage you to sign up now, as I’ll be releasing two more recommendations in my upcoming Growth Investor January Monthly Issue on Friday. I expect these stocks to skyrocket next year, and I don’t want you to miss out on any potential gains. Click here for all the details.

Louis Navellier had an unconventional start, as a grad student who accidentally built a market-beating stock system — with returns rivaling even Warren Buffett. In his latest feat, Louis discovered the “Master Key” to profiting from the biggest tech revolution of this (or any) generation. Louis Navellier may hold some of the aforementioned securities in one or more of his newsletters.