A recent prominent cyber crime story involves an attack that crippled the systems of a hospital in Los Angeles. As reported at CBS News and other outlets, the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center fell prey to ransomware cryptolocker, a type of malware that locks authorized users out of their own files or systems.
To regain access to their system and restore its functionality, hospital administrators paid cyber criminals 40 bitcoins, or roughly $17,000. For over a week before that, they had no electronic way to access or transmit files. The ransomware seriously hampered hospital operations and endangered patients.
If you haven’t experienced a ransomware virus yet, you should still read on, as we’ve seen customers who have either been affected or have been protected due to their firewall or antivirus systems from CompuData. It can be crippling to any business, small or large.
Related: How to Protect Your Business from the CryptoLocker Virus (Ransomware)
The threat of ransomware cryptolocker
Using ransomware is an attractive tactic to cyber criminals for a few key reasons:
- It’s easy to deploy. It can get hold of a system through a single infected file. For example, a new ransomware threat – Cryptolocker nicknamed “Locky” – arrives via email in what looks like a Microsoft Word invoice.
- It’s quick and powerful. Once ransomware cryptolocker takes hold of a system, it’s exceptionally difficult to get rid of it. For example, “Locky” leaves your computing devices usable but encrypts your files, making them unreadable. Breaking the encryption may prove impossible for your organization, even with outside support.
- It pays. Many organizations come to the conclusion that it’s more worthwhile to pay the cyber criminals. Cyber criminals often count on a speedy pay-off. And there’s nothing to prevent them from a repeated attack, even on the same company. (There’s also nothing to prevent them from continuing to withhold a decryption key and keeping your files inaccessible.) For this reason, we rarely advise our clients to pay the ransom. Clients that utilize CompuData’s business continuity and backup solutions who have been affected with the virus are able to quickly restore data systems to avoid paying for the ransom.
Read Also: Reduce the Risk of Cybertheft with Managed IT Services
What can help protect your organization from ransomware cryptolocker?
Experts are still struggling to figure out the most effective ways to prevent ransomware attacks. The power of ransomware and its ever-evolving forms help give cyber criminals an edge. However, there are some strategies that an organization can adopt to reduce the chances of a successful ransomware attack. These include, proper employee training, offsite or cloud backup solutions, and managed security solutions.
Employee Training
Employee awareness and cyber training are key to fighting off ransomware cryptolocker attacks. Successful attacks often depend on employees downloading certain files or clicking on certain links without awareness of a threat.
For example, to successfully and unwittingly unleash Locky, an employee would need to download the Microsoft Word document, open it and then enable macros to make the contents readable. Employees who are more aware of cyber threats may hesitate to download a mysterious invoice; or, once they open it, they may find it suspicious that the file appears to show a jumble of characters with a pop-up window requesting that they “enable macros” (assuming your Microsoft Word settings don’t automatically enable macros – which is why you should leave the settings on the default state of disabled macros). Educate all employees to delete suspicious emails or ask your IT support for assistance when in doubt.
You May also like: What is Ransomware?
Cloud Backup
Another strategy to combating ransomware is to back up your data on a separate network. If you keep your backups on the same devices or on the same network, you may lose access to them, leaving you entirely at the mercy of cyber criminals. You’ll lose your most important files, including critical work projects, tax forms, invoices, etc. There are various secure storage options you can look into that back up your data separately from your network such as the CompuData iSySvault backup services.
Device Protection
It’s also important to protect your devices with anti-malware programs and firewalls. Keep in mind, that these are never 100% effective, especially against brand new threats. However, they still serve as an important layer of defense for your network. With CompuData’s proactive IT monitoring and security management, we utilize sophisticated tools for detecting and weeding out spam emails, particularly those with malicious content; again, while these tools aren’t completely effective, they contribute to your security. Just don’t get complacent.
Growing Threats
The Hacker News reports that Locky is spreading quickly, with an estimated “100,000 new infections per day.” And new ransomware is being developed and will be launched before you know it.
Be sure to develop a strong relationship with your managed IT services provider. While many organizations feel they have IT under control, it’s always important to have a trusted advisor and outside perspective to help you see gaps that may not be on your radar.
Download the proactive IT management guide to learn more about how to prevent and protect your company from potential IT security risks.