Ransomware being the most important threat in the
cybersecurity sector, both for large companies and for SMEs and users. Attacks
like WannaCry and Petya hijacked computers around the world and made the front
pages of international newspapers. However ransomware is the most powerful and
sophisticated type of attack which can only be defended with advanced antivirus software and
best security solutions.
Although we have seen other types of attacks grow in
business environments, such as cryptojacking, the effectiveness in results and
the low risk it entails for the cyber-attacker make ransomware a constant
threat and we must not forget about it.
Companies
In The Spotlight: How Do Criminals Attack?
The ransomware is a form of cybercrime that encrypts
computer files and blocks or denies access until it receives the ransom
required by ciberatacante, usually in the form of bitcoin or some kind of
virtual currency that will safeguard the identity of the attacker. The purpose
of this type of attack is therefore financial gain. The three most common types
of incidents in which cybercriminals make use of ransomware are cyber-theft,
extortion, and sabotage of civil or military facilities.
The cyber-theft, as that was the victim Equifax a year ago
and today still carries one of the losses larger sensitive data Internet
history, is one of the ways that criminals manage to get rich. The attack was
carried out thanks to a vulnerability in the company's web applications that
was exploited by criminals with ransomware, opening the doors to the
confidential information of more than 147 million customers in the United
States, including their Social Security numbers. , dates of birth, addresses,
and in some cases their driver's licenses and credit cards.
Another possible approach is extortion to obtain something
in return, which in this type of attack is usually monetary retribution,
through force or threats. There are three recent extortion examples such as
WannaCry, NotPetya, or BadRabbit. In this case (which is not the only one that
demands ransom), cybercriminals access the system files, encrypt them and end
the attack by showing a dialog to the user that asks for remuneration in
exchange for access to this information. This situation has made thousands of
companies tremble that have seen how they could lose their data if they did not
pay millionaire amounts.
The last of its modalities is the sabotage of civil or
military installations. One example is the attack on Aramco, Saudi Arabia's
state oil and gas company, which paralyzed its export activity for 2 weeks. The
same software that caused the shutdown was used years later to carry out
cyberattacks including a new module that did contain ransomware. Most recently,
the Atlanta city government was the victim of a ransomware attack, which forced
the city to paralyze all digital processes. Atlantans had to fall behind on
electronic payments, and city officials resorted to writing their reports by
hand. For the resolution, the attackers asked for a ransom of $ 50,000 in
bitcoin and it is unknown if the city council agreed to the payment of this
amount. However, the city reports spending $ 2.6 million on incident response
and recovery processes. This shows us that, with or without payment of the
ransom, this type of attack can be very costly for organizations of all kinds.
Recommendations
To Be Companies Free Of Ransomware
To protect our companies against the constant threat of
ransomware, we have prepared this list of tips:
· Perform
constant backups to avoid data loss, and keep up to date with system updates
and patches.
· Train
our employees, raise awareness and convey to them the importance of detecting
possible attacks directed at them, such as phishing.
· Carry
out security audits and vulnerability tests to know the entry doors to our
systems.
· Have
an advanced antivirus
software solution, such as that performs real-time analysis and enables
these attacks to be prevented, detected and remedied.
Comments
Post a Comment