With so many different types, businesses must keep up to date on the latest threats to protect themselves and their clients.
Your garden-variety ransomware is a cyberthreat used to extort money, usually in the form of Bitcoin. Through a fake email or file, operators quietly gain access to a computer and encrypt data before demanding a ransom for the decryption key.
Aside from double extortion, attackers also use the tactic of intimidation and shaming. This method sees the attacker publicizing on social media that they have infected a company. These tactics can be pretty persuasive, but there are no guarantees your data will be unlocked (even if you pay the ransom).
That is why security experts warn against this practice: paying the ransom often encourages more attacks. In fact, the U.S. Department of the Treasury is taking steps to dissuade ransom payments by fining companies that make payments to known hackers.
Ransomware operators have creatively come up with different ways to convince victims to pay a ransom. Four of the most common types are:
Phishing scams are the most common form of a ransomware attack. Still, a system can be infected through other means — for example, visiting malicious websites or clicking malvertising, downloading data off of an infected USB drive, and installing malicious applications and plug-ins.
Ransomware attacks tend to follow a predictable pattern. There are three typical stages:
This step is usually people-powered. It takes just one person to click a bad link or open an infected email attachment to get the ransomware ball rolling. Once the ransomware gets past the gate, it begins encrypting code -rendering the gate useless.
Ransomware operators are all about efficiency. They don’t want to encrypt just any data; they want the information that companies are willing to pay for. After the breach, the operators dig around in your files looking for high-value data worth holding and selling on the dark web. For example, this could be sales data like purchase orders or employee information like social security numbers.
When the operator finishes sifting through your system, disabling antivirus software, penetrating deep into the network, and encrypting and stealing sensitive data, it’s time for the big reveal – the ransom note.
In a perfect world, organizations would discover and deflect ransomware attacks before they did any damage. In reality, it’s not that easy.
On average, it takes small and medium-sized businesses almost 800 days to discover malware on their network. As you can imagine, this is plenty of time to encrypt and steal large amounts of data. Ransomware propagates quickly, and attackers are constantly deploying new strains. That’s why it’s relatively easy for operators to sneak in.
This is not to say cybersecurity tools are useless against ransomware – they are an excellent defensive line. The best way to stay safe from ransomware, however, is to avoid it in the first place. This could include teaching employees what to look out for, monitoring systems for suspicious activity, creating honeypots, and configuring email filters to stop suspicious messages from getting through.
Ransomware attacks may be on the rise, but there is no reason to sit back and wait to be victims. Here are nine things you can do to protect your organization’s data from ransomware:
IT Weapons has an entire staff of security experts ready to ensure you feel safe and your data is protected. We offer broad-based security assessments with options including:
We also provide comprehensive data protection and business continuity capabilities, such as:
A proactive ransomware strategy is crucial to mitigating the devastating impact of a ransomware attack. Take the IT Weapons Ransomware Readiness Assessment to determine whether your organization is properly prepared for a significant security event.