Ransomware Defense Assessment
Few cyber threats today rival ransomware. Easily launched against targets with immense power to disrupt and destroy, ransomware defense is a must-have for organizations running critical systems or managing critical data.
Understanding Different Types of Ransomware
We explore the range of ransomware attacks and the basics your organization needs to know to stay prepared and minimize the damaging effects of ransomware.
Ransomware attacks on the consumer front may have decreased, but on the business end, they have grown 363% year on year. There is no surprise here – if uncurtailed, ransomware can quickly infect and lock a fleet of devices, effectively crippling business operations. The more an attacker can handicap the organization, the more likely the attacker gets paid off.
Already there are helpful resource such as ID Ransomware and No More Ransom to help affected organizations understand the type of ransomware they face, how it works, how it can be removed, as well as to provide technical expertise.
Ransomware is generally classified into three categories: Scareware, Screen Locking Ransomware and File Encrypting Ransomware.
Scareware
Scareware is a malware that tricks the user into thinking their computer and files are locked or infected with a virus. The usual demands that follow consist of the user installing a particular anti-virus software to delete the virus. While modern browsers and basic security policies now typically block such malware, it pays to know that such scareware can be easily uninstalled by using Task Manager or simply restarting your computer.
Screen Locking Ransomware
Screen locking ransomware blocks the user from accessing their operating system in any way. By holding the operation system hostage, the organization is forced to do one of the following things:
- Pay the ransom
While it can make sense cost-wise to pay the ransom, we at Deep Water Cyber Experts never recommend that you pay it. Paying the ransomware demand makes your organization a repeat target and communicates to other attackers in the know to attack you again.
- Do a system restore
If the option is available, this is a viable way to remove the ransomware while restoring access to the operating system, but not without potential damage.
- Attempt to remove the ransomware using third party software
If the organization is able to identify the type of ransomware, it might be able to find legitimate ransomware decryption tools to remove the ransomware. Ransomware Decryptor Site by Kaspersky is one such tool.
However, proceed with caution during your search, many ransomware variant use enterprise-grade encryption that is impossible to crack. Also, some of these tools are actually scareware in disguise that promise fast decryption, only to install more malware.
Connect with us, if you need more information about building a robust ransomware defense program to be resilient against ransomware attacks.