Ransomware Trending Upward in 2017; Protect Your Business with Training and Smart Security

Ransomware is on the rise. According to the FBI, it is now approaching a $1 billion criminal enterprise. In 2016, it came on with a vengeance hitting hospitals, government agencies, and even smart TVs in homes. In fact, TrendMicro reported in the middle of last year that the ransomware FLocker (which is a shortened version of Frantic Locker) could infect smart televisions running on Android. Kaspersky estimates that ransomware infected a device every 30 seconds in the third quarter of 2016 and SentinelOne found from one of its surveys that half of those who responded reported a ransomware attack during the year.

How does ransomware make its way around? Usually it’s via phishing via email or text message. All it takes is to click on the malicious link or open the infected attachment to install the malware in your device. How can a link install malware, great question. This can happen when a user merely visits an infected website even it is for only a second. Normally you will be presented with a software download pop-up message, so you still have a chance to avoid download the ransomware. But if your device is running software with a zero-day vulnerability, the malware can be installed without notifying you. This is why it is so important that all software is kept current on all network accessible devices. By doing this, the chances of being infected in this manor are dramatically reduced.

To compound the effectiveness of ransomware, if there are multiple devices on a network with the same operating system, which is very common even on home networks, the ransomware can crawl around and infect multiple systems.

Unfortunately, phishing is becoming more sophisticated and those malicious links and files are getting more difficult to detect. The cyber criminals are even purchasing secured certificates to make their sites appear legitimate and safe.

What can we do to thwart this? There are several ways to mitigate the threat of ransomware.

• Segment the organization’s network. This means to create sub-networks. Not only will it help with performance, but also eliminates the risk of a single point of failure. If malware hits one segment, it doesn’t automatically affect everything.
• Do regular backups of all important and sensitive data. It’s best to encrypt those backups too. Also, make sure they are good backups, just in case you need to use them. It would be a real pity if you need one of those only to find out it is corrupt.
• Make sure everyone that connects to the organization’s network has training on identifying phishing, vishing, spear-phishing, and whaling, as well as any other form of phishing that may arise in the future. The key is that the link or attachment received is unexpected. Don’t forget that third parties often may log in to the network, so they should be included in training. Ensure everyone understands and is tested on it because tested education is effective education.

A trend expected to take off in 2017 is ransomware that will encrypt the entire disk. This means that not only will it make files unusable, but it will also make the entire computer unusable until it’s decrypted. This happened recently to the San Francisco Municipal Transit. Ransomware struck their ticketing system causing the agency to open the gates and give customers free rides over the Black Friday shopping weekend. Fortunately, they had good backups and were able to restore it rather quickly and avoid paying the ransom of about $73,000.

Small organizations or those that don’t think they have information anyone would want are in focus for cyber criminals too. Just because a company may not have payment card data, social security numbers, or other information that is deemed sensitive, it doesn’t leave them risk free. Ransomware by nature, does not steal data, it holds whatever data you have hostage. It may only be invoice date or something as simple as photographs. If any company has any data they consider valuable or important, security should be taken seriously, whether there are two, 2,000, or 20,000 employees.