How to Identify Risk within Your Organization Before a Single Ransomware Attack Happens?

Introduction

Significant cyber-attacks are taking place across the nation and around the world. Federal agencies, State Governments and major universities have been hit with a campaign of ransomware attacks. We must not have forgotten how the ransomware attack rocked India's most trusted and premier medical facility. The medical institute AIIMS Delhi was under a massive ransomware attack in November 2022 risking information on millions of patients. The cybercriminals had reportedly paralyzed all servers and demanded a ransom in exchange for returning the data access. The Russian Cybercriminal group "CLOP" hacked Government data. China's largest bank, ICBC hit with ransomware. Ardent confirms hospitals disrupted over ransomware attack. California city of Oakland declares state of emergency over week-long ransomware attack. Giving examples will not end but will continue to increase because cybercriminals cannot remain silent for a single moment without committing a crime.

As per Statista, 36% of the organizations suffered ransomware attacks because of exploited vulnerabilities and 72% of worldwide business organizations were affected by ransomware attacks in 2023.

The scariest part for an organization is cyber-attacks on the critical infrastructure of an organization. Small to smaller hacks happened every single day from banks to the largest organizations, from hospitals to power grids from schools to universities and even the entire city. These ransomware attacks caused real tangible harm to people.

You log on to your device just like you do every day only to see our screen locked and your device unable to boot up a message demanding money or bitcoins appears instead. "I have seen your family photos and vacation photos; I got your financial credentials and all your stuff. If you want to take those back, you have to pay me big."

41% of victims pay the ransom. You can expect to lose 35% of your data due to corruption. Seriously! How do you make sure that will never happen to you? Do you know as per prediction, ransomware will cost its victims around $265 billion (USD) annually by 2031 and it accounts for 10% of all cyber-attacks currently. So, what is the way to avoid this terrible attack? But before we begin, let's briefly explain with an easy case for beginners what ransomware is and how it works.

Everything You Need to Know About a Ransomware Attack

Ransomware is a form of malicious software or malware that restricts access to your computer or mobile device or encrypts data until you pay a ransom in exchange for accessing your device or data again. A typical example of ransomware is called dead krypter which locks your devices and documents until you are forced to pay a ransom. The payment that this malware demands is – bitcoins which is more than $1000. This ransomware attack is one of the most dangerous cyber-attacks today. The number of users infected with ransomware keeps growing along with continued increases in ransomware modifications making it a constantly evolving threat to forms of ransomware that are currently the most widely used around the world.

There are two kinds of ransomware – 1) Locker Ransomware & 2) Crypto Ransomware.

Currently, they are the most widely used around the world. Locker Ransomware locks you out of the basic computer functions forcing you to pay a ransom to regain control whereas Crypto Ransomware encrypts your sensitive data threatening to destroy them unless you pay a fee.

We can assure you that you are not helpless against these cyber-attacks if you can recognize how ransomware is spread, and system weakness in your device as well as solve gaps to prevent attacks. If you are a student, you can build a career on it to be an Ethical Hacker. You can enroll yourself in any reputed Cyber Security training institute on their courses like Diploma in Digital Forensics or Advanced Diploma in Cyber Security, Ethical Hacking or global certification programs.

Unlike any other cyber security incidents that occur, it puts your organization on a countdown timer. Any delays in the decision-making process are going to introduce additional risk to the business and potentially additional costs. So not preparing and having a plan that you can implement when the attack happens will greatly increase the risk to your organization and the cost associated with doing it. The threat masters never take breaks. 76% of all ransomware attacks used to happen after business hours. 90% of all ransomware attacks are hitting companies with less than a billion dollars in revenue.

Ransomware attacks are getting smarter. Is your organization smart enough to defend against them? They are using the same tools as you are using in your organization. The most important matter is this problem lies in organization. Organizations must adopt better cybersecurity habits.

How you can protect your organization from Ransomware attacks?

1. Lockdown your network if you are confused about data encryption by bad actors
2. Disable the ransomware process
3. Use a portable hard drive (1TB/ 2TB) and have a time-to-time backup of your data and store it there and only use it when you want to access the specific data
4. Check if you have auto/manual backups
5. Check decryption options
6. Don't download any email attachments without having prior knowledge about the Email sender or what's inside the attachment
7. Always use it to check file extensions
8. Use a strong firewall system
9. Keep always on good third-party antivirus software
10. Disable the 'remote sharing' option
11. Always update software
12. Maintain patches

Conclusion

Ransomware attacks are indeed one of the rising types of attacks that take all of us by surprise. It is also the source of cyber warfare. Keep in mind that hackers don't hack your system until they know completely about you as well as your credentials. They are extremely demanding because they know what is there in your file and for which purpose you plan to use them. You can defend cybercriminals with your basic cyber hygiene tools. For that, you have to enroll into an Ethical Hacking course. Adopt anti-ransomware technologies move to the future and work according to these principles to leave ransomware behind the past age and step into the new world with unlimited opportunities. Be cyber-safe!