Ransomware is becoming a bigger problem now more than ever, it has gotten to the point where we cant just lie back and say ‘it won’t happen to us’ we have to be proactively searching for prevention methods and methods to limit the damage if an attack does occur.

Ransomware is a form of malware that is spread in a variety of ways including phishing and downloading malicious files. When infected, your most precious files are locked and encrypted as well as your network drives if you don’t have the right access control in place. Ransomware Infection methods are constantly evolving and getting more sophisticated. The anonymous cybercriminal demand money (typically payable in bitcoins) before you can regain access. Often, once you do pay, you still do not gain access to your files.

Ransomware attacks target firms of all sizes, neither SME’s nor large businesses are safe as we have seen recently with Garmin, a swiss watch company and GPS maker, being hit hard with ransomware. In 2019, 51% of organizations were hit by ransomware in the last year. The criminals succeeded in encrypting the data in 73% of these attacks (source: Sophos), and we have seen a rise again due to the Covid – 19 pandemic. These kinds of attacks are on the rise in every sector and in every size of business and more and more of them are being successful.

Attacks such as WannaCry affected Hundreds of thousands of computers from Taiwan to the United Kingdom, where it crippled the NHS and brought their systems to a standstill.

To limit damage companies have implemented strict access control, where employees can only access the files and folders that they absolutely need to. That way, if said employee gets infected, the only files affected are the ones they have access to.

At Cyber Wise, we have a variety of courses that teach your employees the extent of ransomware and the damage it can cause. As well as cybersecurity audits that will assess your business and help you improve on your weakest areas. If you would like to arrange a risk-free trial, contact us today.