Cybersecurity is one of the most important things to worry about when it comes to business IT operations.  With the advent of the “Cryptolocker” and the other Ransomware virus’s that have become prevalent since September 2013 the potential for loss is at an all-time high.

Not only do these new ransomware viruses lock up the system they encrypt the files as well.  This ensures that businesses pay even if the malware itself was deleted.  So now you have to worry about the cost from downtime while locked up and the loss of critical data; as well as, the additional cost of the “Ransom” the hackers are demanding to unlock them. The “Ransom” collected has been estimated to be in the tens of millions.

Cybersecurity is one of the most important things to worry about when it comes to business IT operations.  With the advent of the “Cryptolocker” and the other Ransomware viruses that have become prevalent since September 2013 the potential for loss is at an all-time high.  Not only do these new ransomware viruses lock up the system they encrypt the files as well.  This ensures that businesses pay up even if the malware itself was deleted.  So now you have to worry about the cost from downtime while locked up and the loss of critical data; as well as, the additional cost of the “Ransom” the hackers are demanding to unlock them.  The “Ransom” collected has been estimated to be in the tens of millions.

 

It was at this time in 2013 that IT insiders predicted that conventional threats like ransomware were likely to evolve gradually, as cybercriminals will focus mainly on refining existing tools and they were right.  It will continue to get worse. Recently we have seen these new variations of the “Cryptolocker”.

• Critroni or Curve-Tor-Bitcoin (CTB) Locker came about in 2014.
• CTB Locker introduced another variant in 2015 that had a “freemium” – free decryption service.
• In 2015, TorrentLocker ransomware attacks were prevalent in the Australia-New Zealand region. This particular ransomware adds CAPTCHA code and redirection to a spoofed site.

Cybercrime is growing at an alarming rate with experts warning that it cost business’s trillions by 2019.

Cybersecurity: HOW TO PREVENT A RANSOMWARE ATTACK?

First off, you need a Managed Service Provider assisting you in some way.  The power of multiple minds that are always training and educating themselves on the current threats will give your business a leg up on the competition who chooses to be reactive in their approach.

Secondly, business owners need to be sure their MSP is constantly monitoring their networks for threats and that they have a strong and up to date endpoint cybersecurity solution. If infected, do not pay the ransom.  Remove the infected system and remove the threat.  Then restore impacted files from a reliable back-up. To protect your business against being infected, a strong Managed Services Provider will do the following:

• Configure their real-time scanning options to be in-line wherever possible with “High Security” Virus and Spyware policy and the prevalence of any files as determined by their user base.  
• Improve User Education
• Employ content scanning and filtering on your mail servers.
• Maintain a current patch level for any operating systems and applications that have known vulnerabilities.
• Install and configure Host Intrusion Prevention
• Block your end users from being able to execute the malware
• Limit end user access to mapped drives
• Deploy and maintain a comprehensive backup solution.

This won’t guarantee protection, but will minimize your risk.  Schedule a FREE AntiVirus analysis to see if you are protected with Best in Class defense.