What is ransomware attack?
Ransomware is a type of malicious software which hacks the computer system and refrains you from accessing your own computer. It asks to pay money and until you pay the money it does not allow you to access your data. This is termed as ransomware attack. In a ransomware attack, perpetrators send unsuspicious emails containing links or attachments with malware to victims. Upon opening these emails, the malware infects their systems and devices. Victims realize their systems are infected only after losing access. The malware encrypts all their data, and messages displayed on systems demand payment for the decryption key, including instructions on how to pay the ransom money. It usually asks to pay in bitcoins, which is a virtual money.
About the latest Ransomware attack
On May 12th, 2017, the world witnessed a massive cyber attack which is being claimed as the biggest ever cyber attack in the history of the internet. It was bigger than Dyn DDos. A powerful ransomware, named as WannaCry, was storming throughout the web. The epicenter of the damage was Europe. The infamous hacking group, Shadow Brokers, later publicly revealed the vulnerability in Windows OS, which the malware WannaCry identified. The NSA (National Security Agency) initially discovered this vulnerability. It infected 200,000 systems within a few hours. It also affected big organizations like Renault and NHS.
Ransomware targeting and attacking online businesses
If a single person clicks on a link attached to malware, it collapses the entire system. Usually small or medium sized businesses do not tend to backup their data and do not pay much attention to cyber security for online businesses. Lack of dedicated IT support leads to compromise on cyber hygiene. Investing in cyber security for online businesses, irrespective of its size is crucial and affordable too. This investment is very small rather than losing the valuable and huge database and information built by an organization over the years.
Often it takes a huge amount of time to recover or recreate the lost resources. So small businesses tend to pay the money for ransomware and solve the problem. But such businesses then encourages more of such cyber attacks, which makes such businesses fall prey to attackers again and again.
How to protect your online businesses from ransomware attacks?
Any online business has a business plan and also a data strategy. A good strategy includes a thorough understanding of all information they have, the location to store it, how to access it and who can access it.
Being an IT service provider for 12+ years, we recommend adopting a software system that is safe and secure to prevent threat detection, intrusion, and prevention. Backing up the software and the data is also very crucial, which helps to preserve your valuable data even if your system could not prevent cyber-attack.
In the case of cyber attacks like ransomware attacks, businesses must first contact their IT vendors to handle such situations. The role of an IT vendor is to isolate systems, bring them offline, wipe the systems and execute the process of restoration.
Krify is a multinational IT service provider and we understand that online businesses are the nerve-endings of the economy which explains the necessity of making such businesses cyber-empowered. It is important to understand the solutions available to protect the businesses from cyber attack.
Online businesses can choose between cloud-based or physical data backups depending on the importance and usage frequency of the organization’s data. We recommend keeping the multiple copies of the data on multiple sites.
Contact us today for all your IT related needs. Our core competencies include website development, mobile app development, SEO and digital marketing.
