Attacks are becoming more regular

There has been a massive growth in criminal activity over the last few years, through malware, hacking and most prevalent of all, ransomware. Research conducted by Computing in late 2016 showed that organisations of all sizes are at risk.

Whilst larger organisations are more likely to have a dedicated security strategy in place, the string of successful attacks on household names in the last eighteen months illustrates that large organisations are far from infallible.

Surprisingly, of the organisations surveyed, over 47% either did not or did not know if they backed up end-user devices – the most common way for ransomware to be deployed.

To date, almost 100 countries have been impacted with the NHS in England and Scotland having to resort to pen and paper. Operations cancelled and Accident and Emergency units shut down by the crippling ransomware infection.

How did this happen?

Short answer: a convincing phishing email (SPAM email) was opened on a Windows PC that was not regularly updated. A strain of ransomware names “WannaCry” has been delivered by a very well organised and synchronised mass email attack. The convincing email entices the recipient to open an attachment that infects Windows operating systems with the malware that exploits a vulnerability that has not been patched.

What does Malware do?

Once infected there is little you can do without an effective backup.

Once infected, the malware acts as the logged on user, gaining access to all of the files and folders that the user normally accesses. Systematically locking the files with an encryption key that leaves them completely locked for access and useless without the encryption key.
The criminals are asking for a ransom to be paid in Bitcoins (a virtual currency) in exchange for the key to gain access to the locked files.

Only a backup can save you in this situation, 360 Visualise offer a free backup audit to make sure that you have the right solution and that is “actually works”.