I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but when it comes to cybersecurity threats it’s kind of hard not to be. I used to look at it from two sides; one side is fascinated at the innovation and intensely brutal ways that high-end cyberattacks work, and the other side of me loses sleep at night worrying about these risks affecting our clients, prospects, and even my own business. This one particular classification of cyberattack, however, takes the cake for being especially frightening.
Cybercriminals fight dirty, whether it’s attacking small businesses, large enterprises, or individuals who just want to watch Netflix. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do for the community; you’ll always be a target for hacking attacks. To save time and effort, hackers will use low-tech attacks and social engineering attacks to target individuals. Hackers aren’t developing new threats all the time; if anything, they largely use existing exploits, purchasable software, and social engineering to take advantage of people.
Ransomware is one of the more dangerous threats out there for businesses of all industries and sizes. To help emphasize just how dangerous it is, however, you have to look past the initial threat of having to pay a ransom and look at the other risks associated with it. We’re here to try to get the point across that ransomware is something your business should absolutely be taking seriously.
Ransomware is such a common occurrence these days that it has entered the public discourse, but we also want to note that it’s such an important topic to discuss with your team that you can never talk about it enough. We want to address some of the most common questions we get asked about ransomware and what can be done about it.
There is a lot made about ransomware, for good reason. It is quite simply one of the nastiest cyberattacks out there and it demands your attention. A lot of people understand what exactly ransomware sets out to do, but they don’t understand how it got that far and how to address the situation if they have the misfortune of being put in that position.
We talk a lot (and we mean a lot) about cybersecurity, with ransomware getting a lot of our focus…and for very good reason. Ransomware is a huge threat that today’s businesses need to be prepared to deal with. In light of this, we wanted to share a few tips to help you avoid the negative ramifications of ransomware.
This past January, the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued an announcement that they had targeted and taken down the servers for a Dark Web organization responsible for the Hive ransomware group. While there is certainly cause for celebration here, one major statistic is enough reason to continue being concerned.
Ransomware is one of the more dangerous threats out there today, and since it is so prominent and dangerous, it is a popular choice amongst hackers. To combat this threat, a community has formed around the cause, encouraging users to not pay the ransom by providing free malware removal tools for the most popular ransomware threats.
Did you know that the United States is the leader in ransomware payments? According to a survey from Mimecast titled “The State of Ransomware Readiness,” the U.S. has the highest average payment for ransomware out of the entire world at more than $6 million per victim. These shocking numbers likely stem from high-profile ransomware attacks, but they are also indicative of a larger problem, that being people who still pay the ransom.
We often discuss how your business can avoid the impact of ransomware, but what we don’t often discuss is what happens to businesses that do, in fact, suffer from such a devastating attack. We want to use today’s blog as an opportunity to share what your business should (and should not) do in the event of a ransomware attack, as well as measures you can take to avoid suffering from yet another in the future.
We know, we know; you’re probably sick of seeing ransomware in headlines, and so are we, but we cannot stress enough how important having an awareness of it is for any business owner. A new study has found that businesses infected by ransomware who choose to pay up experience a different type of fallout--one that is a major cause for concern and a stark reminder that there are no guarantees with ransomware. Ever.
What if I told you that 92 percent of all organizations that are hit by a ransomware attack and agree to settle with the scammers, don’t ever see their data again? You’d probably say that you would never, ever pay and those that do, don’t make sense. Most people keep that stance until their choices are to pay for the data in the hopes of getting it back, or lose it completely. Let’s unpack ransomware and the strategy that hackers most utilize to deploy it: Phishing.
For the past several years, ransomware has been a major thorn in the sides of businesses. Hackers that were once known for “hacking” into networks, changed tactics when encryption just got too strong. Today, these “hackers” use confidence tactics to gain access to accounts. Once they’re in, their strongest tool is ransomware. Let’s look at what makes ransomware so dangerous and how your company can combat the constant attacks that come your way.
The short, yet devastating, history of ransomware is littered with what amounts to individual horror stories. As you may well know, ransomware, is a particularly devious and potentially devastating strain of malware that, when enacted, locks a computer’s files down so that the user can’t access them. In their stead, a message is relayed that instructs them to contact a third party to pay a ransom for access to the files. This is where the threat gets its name.
The ransomware machine keeps moving forward, despite significant opposition. In particular, the ransomware tag-team duo of Petya and Mischa have steamrolled most attempts to block them from accessing critical systems, always finding ways to outsmart security professionals. Now, these ransomwares have adopted a Ransomware as a Service model, which has made significant changes to the way that this ransomware is distributed.
2016 saw many notorious data breaches, along with developments in malware and other threats to security. It’s always helpful to reflect on these developments so that the knowledge can be used in the future to aid in developing new strategies for taking on the latest threats. How will your business learn from the mistakes of others in 2017?
Let’s take a look back at some of the major revelations from this past year.
The Internet of Things is Vulnerable
Thousands of devices are infected with malware, which can lead them to form a massive botnet, hackers are then able to utilize this infected swarm to cause havoc. The Mirai botnet, which targets Internet of Things devices, infects smart devices and uses them for various purposes. One of the most notorious recent attacks was on the DNS provider Dyn, which resulted in issues with domain name resolution for several hours last year. Major websites were unable to function properly, and it’s safe to say that the IoT will be yet another major mode of attack for hackers in 2017. Whether or not device manufacturers will continue to see security as an afterthought has yet to be seen.
Ransomware is Becoming More Powerful
2016 certainly had no shortage of ransomware attacks, with many new types of ransomware cropping up practically overnight. The scariest part of this development is that these ransomware attacks seem to be improving in both sophistication and threat level. Take, for example, the Petya ransomware, which encrypts not only the victim’s files, but also their master boot record. Ransomware as a Service offerings also appeared, allowing even more people of varying skill levels to execute these attacks. Nobody is safe; businesses, private users, and even hospitals all have crosshairs fixed to themselves. This means that businesses need to take extra precaution when dealing with spam emails, with the ideal solution being to prevent them altogether.
Governments Can Be Hacked
Two major hacks of the United States showed the world that even large government agencies can be hacked. The two events were a breach at the Internal Revenue Service, while the other had to do with the Democratic National Committee. Over 101,000 PINs were swiped via an e-file PIN reset function, and the data from the DNC breach, perhaps inevitably, wound up on Wikileaks. There were also attacks on voting systems in Illinois and Arizona.
The lesson learned: the United States government isn’t prepared to deal with cyber warfare, and if a government can be hit by hacking attacks, so can your business.
Yahoo’s User Accounts
Yahoo experienced not just one data breach, but two, with the second only coming to light just a few months ago. The first data breach, which happened in 2014 and reported in 2016, exposed more than 500 million user accounts. In December 2016, Yahoo announced that it had been hacked in a separate incident in August 2013. That’s three years between the attack and informing users that their accounts have been compromised. This gives Yahoo the “honor” of being the source of the largest hack of user data ever.
How do you plan on taking the fight to security threats in 2017? We hope you’ll do it with The Connection, Inc by your side. To learn more about what we can do for your business’s network security, reach out to us at (732) 291-5938.
On May 11th, 2017, the world was introduced to the WannaCry ransomware. The ransomware spread around the globe like wildfire, infecting hundreds of thousands of devices and catching many major organizations and businesses by surprise. The full extent of the ransomware’s damage is still being assessed, yet, one thing we do know: this whole fiasco was preventable.