Why You Need to Absolutely Fear Ransomware

 How Much Time Have You Thought About How You Will Prevent The Possibility Of Having Your Data Being Taken Hostage By Cyber Criminals? If You Are Like More Than 50 Percent Of Businesses Who Responded To A Recent Survey Conducted By Pwnie Express, Then Your Answer Is Not Very!

In 2018, The Suspected Number Of Ransomware Attacks Worldwide Jumped 11 Percent Above The Previous Year's Reported Incidents. In Order To Put Those Numbers Into Better Perspective, Estimates Show That There Were More Than 206 Million Total Ransomware Attacks In A One-Year Period; 71 Percent Of Which Targeted Company Computer Networks And Data Systems. With Almost A Quarter Of All Businesses Reporting Weekly Or Even Daily Hacking Attempts, There Is No Reason To Believe That The Number Of Incidences Will Decline In 2019.

Jason Simons Is A Partner At ICS, A Texas Technology Company. Jason Says “Large Or Small, No Business Is Immune From Ransomware. Cyber Criminals Target Everyone, And They Often Prefer To Focus On Small And Medium Business Due To More Relaxed Cyber security.”

While Healthcare-Related Companies Made Up The Highest Percentage Of Victims In 2018, Corporations From Every Industry Were Targets Of Cyber Criminals. In Fact, Over 42 Percent Of Companies On A Global Scale Have Been Forced To Deal With A Ransomware Attack At Some Point In The Past, And It Is Predicted That A New Business Will Become A Victim Ever 14 Seconds In 2019.

Simons Asks “Does All This Talk About The Prevalence Of Ransomware You Scare You A Bit? Yes? That's Good, And You Should Be Scared.”

The Cost Of Ransomware Attacks

Although The FBI And Computer Security Experts Continuously Urge Victims Of Ransomware Not To Give In To Demands And Make A Payment Of Any Kind To Cyber Criminals, Many Businesses Nevertheless Decide That It Is In Their Best Interest To Do So. That Ransom Averaged As Much As $15,000 At Some Periods Of 2018 According To A Recent Survey By Coveware; A Company Which Focuses On Dealing With Ransomware.

While $15,000 May Not Seem Like A Hefty Sum For The Return Of Your Valuable Data, Some Companies' Have Had Their Data Held Ransoms For Millions Of Dollars. Moreover, Remember That This Sum Doesn't Include Any Loss Of Productivity Or Customer Trust, Which A Data Breach Is Sure To Generate. These Additional Expenses Can Often Drive Smaller Companies Into Bankruptcy Or Even Closure. To Top It Off, Many Companies Who Do Wind Up Paying The Ransom, Either Never Get Their Data Back From The Criminals, Or They Return The Data Encrypted Or Corrupted.

With The Growing Number Of New Ransomware Like Ryuk And Samsam Being Made Available To Hackers, Along With Increasing Cases Of Mobile And Lot Internet Device Becoming Targets For Accessing And Stealing Data, This Is An Issue Which No Business Can Afford To Ignore.

Preventing Ransomware Attacks

With So Much On The Line And The Extremely High Probability Of Cyber Criminals Targeting Your Business, Knowing How To Protect Your Company Is Critical. There Are Three Main Ways Hackers Typically Gain Access To Your Data. These Methods Are Remote Desktop Protocol, Phishing Scams And Online Or Offline Social Engineering.

The One Thing All Of These Methods Have In Common Is That They Depend On Fooling Your Employees Into Letting The Criminals Into Your Network. Therefore, Effective Training Is The Linchpin When It Comes To Preventing Ransomware Attacks. That Means That Proper Cyber security Training Needs To Not Only Focus On Training Your Staff How To Handle Links And Attachments Properly, Something Which They Most Likely Already Do But Also Needs To Touch On Offline Social Engineering Scams Like Texts And Even Snail Mail.

Besides Educating Your Staff On How To Avoid Social Engineering Tricks, The Second Piece Of Thwarting Ransomware Is By Having Up-To-Date Backups For All Of Your Data. This Way, Your Company Is More Or Less Immune To Ransomware. To Safeguard Your Backup Data Ensure That Your IT Department Stores Your Backup Data On A Different Server Which Is Entirely Independent Of Your Primary Data Storage Server.

The Last Line Of Your Company's Defense Against Cyber Criminals Is To Install And Maintain Ransomware Detection Software Or To Hire A Third-Party To Provide Cyber security. Although This Is An Additional Expense, Most Business Owners Will Agree That The Cost Is Well Worth It To Prevent An Attack Of This Kind.

Don't Let Your Business Become Another Victim Of Ransomware. Now Is The Time To Take The First Step By Acknowledging That Your Data Is At Risk. Only Then Can You Can Focus On Putting The Proper Training Program, Data Backup Solution, And Software In Place, To Protect Your Company Against These Types Of Attacks.