It’s Not Only The Big Guys……..
It’s not only big companies that are victims to Ransomware attacks. Data Pirates have decided its much easier pickings to get $500 bucks from lots of individuals than the harder job of hacking larger more “protected” companies.
Recent hostage situations show a wide range of financial demands and include Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, initial demand $3.4 million and Police departments in Maine and Mass for between $300 and $500.
What’s the similarity in attack? So, it’s all a variation on phishing. That innocuous email that looks like its from a friend/known business associate that when you “click” on the file infects your device/system with the malware that leads to all your files being frozen and a ransomware demand.
Many individuals are also getting these kind of attacks with similar demands. So what happens next? Well, you can run down to the Geek Squad or your local PC guy for advice or check out the FBI or other sites that offer code to “unlock” the malware but inevitably the same question is first asked, “Did you have all your system backed up?” They ask this for a simple reason, youR whole device may need to be wiped if it can’t be unlocked and your whole system may need to be wiped if the Pirate doesn’t unlock your system after you’ve paid the ransom!!!!
Can you cope with that loss of all your data? What can we do to safeguard and mitigate against this ?
• We need to back up our systems regularly, externally and in the safest place we can find.
• We need to make sure we are regularly taking in new “patches” and updates to software
• We need to re-check and update firewalls
• We need to educate ourselves and employees about the dangers of phishing emails and their effect
• We need to be ever alert and diligent This problem isn’t going away and whether its our business data or our PII the effects can be devastating. We’ll be publishing a white paper on this subject soon so stay tuned…….
As always, here at ID Resolution we stand ready to assist you and to answer any questions you may have.
Call us at 877 308 9169