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The City of Atlanta is currently experiencing outages on various customer facing applications, including some that customers may use to pay bills or access court-related information. What’s going on? Ransomware. No business or entity is safe from cyber attacks. What to do to protect your business? Be vigilant, proactive and aware.
On Thursday, March 22, 2018, Atlanta’s Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms tackled a very difficult task for anyone in a leadership position entrusted with the care, security and well being of their community. She was required to publicly urge anyone with personal information in city information systems to check their financial records as an investigation continues into a ransomware attack on the city.
Why? Ransomware. Ransomware is a malicious software that prevents or limits users from accessing their system by locking them out until a ransom is paid. NBC affiliate WXIA reported that the city received a ransom demand in bitcoin for $6,800 per unit or $51,000 to unlock the entire system, according to CNN. Mayor Bottoms advised city employees to contact credit agencies and monitor their bank accounts in case their personal data was compromised. She urged the public to take the same precautions while investigators work to determine the scope of the attack. The FBI and Homeland Security Department are investigating the cyber attack, which included a ransom note demanding the payout of $6,800 per computer or $51,000 for the entire system, via Bitcoin — for decryption keys. In addition to working with the FBI, Mayor Bottoms reports the city was also working with external partners, including Microsoft and Cisco cyber security incident response teams.
Ransomware is a diabolical cyber attack in which hackers pirate a company’s data until a ransom is paid.
As data is the core of business operations, ransomware has the power to disrupt – perhaps permanently – even the most stable of businesses in the most vibrant or obscure markets. While a growing number of companies are leveraging the recommended solutions for protection, such as backup and disaster recovery technologies and anti-virus software, many are not. Today’s cyber criminals are aware of this reality and are grateful for it. They are also grateful that many small businesses typically operate without a dedicated in-house IT expert and are working with antiquated, legacy systems. Today’s small businesses rely just as heavily on big data as bigger organizations, yet they tend to operate without the digital asset management and data protections in place to defend against ransomware. Make no mistake, ransomware is fast becoming the most prominent, global threat to business cyber security the world has ever experienced.
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Ransomware finds its way onto computers in a few different ways. First, hackers hack. They break into computers and networks, download the software, and disrupt your life and business. Then, there is phishing. When a victim opens a malicious attachment or clicks on a URL, the software downloads. Yet another way ransomware infects is by using something called malvertising, malicious ads placed on websites. Makers and users of ransomware sometimes disguise themselves as police or FBI, informing their victims that they must pay in order to avoid criminal charges. Some have even been known to use the FBI logo.
What are the Options for Defense Against Ransomware?
There are several ways to help defend yourself or your company against these potential attacks.
- Protect yourself with a sturdy anti-virus and keep it up to date. A proactive Managed IT Service provider like CompuData can help with the firewall and anti-virus selection and maintenance.
- Avoid opening attachments or URLs from anyone you don’t know – make sure all personnel are aware of this good practice. Be careful with any attachment you open, regardless of who sent it. Navigate the internet with care, and always be mindful of where you go on the web. Don’t click on any suspicious looking ads!
- Employ a consistent backup strategy or invest in a managed IT solution that comes with backups so that you can rest easy.
- Your business should have a process in place to discuss security measures with your employees and anyone else that has access to your files. It’s important to remind people that not all emails are safe and that not all web pages and their content are intended to be opened on a business computer – CompuData can help you with this right away!
The reality is, cyber criminals are getting smarter, attacking core servers and erasing backup files, pulling safety nets out from under their victims. Working with a disaster recovery specialist like CompuData will help to improve your security and offer redundant, backup options. Do you have backup and disaster recovery system in place? Is all software up-to-date? Is your antivirus up-to-date? Is your Microsoft patched?
In today’s business world, data protection and security is critical to battle well-planned and executed cyber attacks. Preventive and proactive planning is the way to ensure that your business is protected – CompuData can get you started.