Targeted Ransomware Attacks on the Increase
In today’s computer-driven business environment, Ransomware remains the single greatest threat facing any business that relies on its IT infrastructure.
If your business is the target of an attack, it can take days if not weeks to get your IT systems back up and running. That is assuming of course you have a secure backup of all of your critical data.
Just as an example Travelex, the world’s largest foreign exchange bureau, suffered a major ransomware attack on New Year’s Eve which led to its systems being shut down for more than two weeks. A new strain of Ransomware called Sodinokibi appears to have been used in the attack.
Ransomware has become a lucrative online business and criminals are now specifically targeting larger organisation because they believe they are more likely to pay the ransomware fees. The criminals are also threatening to report their victims to their local data protection authority if they do not pay the ransomware fee or that they will release your private data online.
While the number of reported attacks aimed at Irish organisations remains low, the consequence of a successful Ransomware attack means that it is a risk that should not be ignored.
How do you minimise the risk of Ransomware?
- Keep your IT systems as up to date as possible as older legacy systems are at greater risk.
- Use two factor authentication when ever possible
- Ensure all your operating systems have up to date patches and security updates
- Ensure you have anti-virus software with behaviour monitoring running on all your computers
- Have a Firewall in place ideally with web filtering protection
- Use an email Mail Filtering service
- Educate all of your IT users to be vigilant especially when opening email attachments or clicking on HTML links
- Have a secure backup of your critical data
We are constantly reviewing our IT security solutions to ensure we can offer our clients the best possible protection against Ransomware. In addition, our new remote managed monitoring tool enables us to keep your site secure by automating the patch management of your systems, it can help identify old legacy systems and it can highlight potential security issues
Advanced Firewalls such as the Sophos XG Firewall can help to minimise the impact of a Ransomware attack by isolating a computer from the network if it becomes infected.
If you have any concerns about any aspect of your IT security or you would like more information on Ransomware please call our sales team.
Contact Deycom on 0599130777 or email info@deycom.com