Companies large and small have found ransomware to be a serious problem. Ransomware can infiltrate your data in many ways and stop your business from running.
It can often cost hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars to recover access and use of pirated information.
Chainanalysis 2021 Crypto Crime Report shows that ransomware victims paid nearly $350,000,000 in cryptocurrency in 2020. This is the most common form of payment and it will continue to grow.
A good offense is the best defense against ransomware attacks. A company can prepare for an intrusion by understanding the different ransomware forms. These are some tips that can help you deal with any cybercriminal.
Ransomware is a silently encrypted virus that encrypts user’s computer data. It can infiltrate your computer and block access to important information, thereby preventing or stopping all business activity.
After the data has been stolen and encrypted, an email message may appear asking for money to gain access to the data. The victim is given a time limit to pay the cybercriminal. The ransom may increase if the deadline is missed.
Ransomware can search for computers on the same network and infect them. Other ransomware infects hosts with additional malware that could result in the theft of login credentials. This is particularly dangerous for sensitive information such as passwords to financial and banking accounts.
There are two types of ransomware: Crypto ransomware or Locker ransomware. Crypto ransomware encrypts files on a computer, so that the user can’t access them. Locker ransomware doesn’t encrypt files. It “locks” victims out of their devices, stopping them from using them. It prevents access and prompts the victim for payment to unlock their device.
In the last few years, ransomware has been used in many cyberattacks. These include…
“WannaCry” was a 2017 phenomenon. It was discovered in 150 countries, including the United Kingdom. It was created to exploit a Windows vulnerability. It had infected more than 100,000 computers by May that year.
Many UK hospital trusts were affected by the WannaCry attack, which cost the NHS approximately PS92 million. Users were locked out, and ransom was requested in Bitcoin. This attack exposed problems with outdated systems. Worldwide financial losses of approximately $4 billion were caused by the cyberattack.
Ryuk is ransomware that was distributed in the middle 2018 It disabled Windows System Restore on PC computers. It was impossible to recover encrypted files without a backup. It also encrypted network drives. Many of the targeted organizations were located in the United States. The ransom demanded was paid and the loss estimated at $640,000.
KeRanger is believed to have been the first ransomware attack that successfully infected Mac computers. It runs on the OSX platform. It was embedded in an installer of Transmission, an open-source BitTorrent client. Users downloaded the infected installer and their devices were infected by the ransomware. After three days, the virus encrypts approximately 300 types of files. The virus then downloads a file containing a ransom. It demands one Bitcoin and provides instructions on how to pay it. The victim’s files will be decrypted after the ransom has been paid.
