The ransomware crisis is going to get a lot worse
The
ransomware crisis is going to get a lot worse
Ransomware is already a huge problem. And
what's on the horizon is even more worrying.
There is plenty of
evidence to suggest that ransomware
attacks are getting bigger and more sophisticated. In the space
of just a few years ransomware has gone from a minor irritation for PC users to
being a significant threat to large corporations and even nations. Major
cybercrime gangs are looking to cash in on attacks, and state-backed attackers
have realised the potential for creating both chaos and profit.
A few examples of the scale of the ransomware problem:
·
WannaCry, the biggest cyber incident of 2017, with than 300,000
victims in over 150 countries, was a form of ransomware most likely unleashed by
North Korea (it was rapidly followed by NotPetya, an attempt by
the Russian authorities to cause havoc in Ukraine with ransomware which rapidly
spread beyond those borders).
·
·
Earlier this year the authors of one ransomware strain announced
they were retiring because they had already earned $2 billion. "We have
proved that by doing evil deeds, retribution does not come,"
they said at the time.
·
·
The past summer of
ransomware that has seen dozens of small towns and cities
across the US hit by ransomware; many have been forced to pay out tens or
hundreds of thousands of dollars in ransom to get their systems up and running
again.
·
Ransomware is now the defining internet crime of our current
age. It's the inevitable consequence of the corporate world's obsession with
hoarding as much data as possible, about anything and anyone, and its relaxed
attitude towards keeping that data safe.
Simple attacks plus user willingness to pay ransoms to
get their files back means ransomware is on the rise, warn Kaspersky
researchers.
Businesses have been urged to gather up every bit of data about
every customer engagement, every supplier interaction, in the hope that it can
be trawled by artificial intelligence and big data technologies to provide
insight and direction. But for many organisations the security of that data
remains an afterthought at best. That leaves many in the situation of having
vast piles of sensitive information but no guidelines for keeping it safe. If
organisations aren't sure why they're collecting data they won't be clear about
why they need to protect it, either.
In another twist, ransomware uses encryption, one of the key
technologies we use to do business and communicate online, as a tool to lock
away data from its rightful owner.
In some respects, the solution to the ransomware crisis is
relatively simple. Basic internet security hygiene will prevent the vast
majority of attacks before they have a chance to gain a foothold. A few of the
most obvious steps to take:
- Train staff to recognise suspicious emails and never click on an
email link
- Apply software patches to keep systems up to date
- Change
default passwords across all access points
- Use two-factor authentication
- Understand what your most important data is and create an
effective backup strategy
- Backup your data to secure computers not attached to your network
- Have a plan for how to respond to a ransomware attack – and test
it
Sadly, there will
still be organisations large and small that fall victim to ransomware, as gangs
become more sophisticated in how they work. Managed
service providers and network
attached storage are among the recent additions to the
ransomware gangs' targets; they won't be the last.
There's every sign
that this is an epidemic that will get worse, not better. The willingness for
victims and their insurers to pay out means more crooks will be tempted to try
their hand. Ransomware-as-a-service kits mean even wannabes with limited skills
can try their hand at a running a scam. While some law enforcement agencies
have done a good job of providing the tools to let
victims decrypt their systems few ransomware gangs have faced
justice.
Already there are fears that ransomware could be used against
voter databases in the run up to the 2020 US presidential election. A
ransomeware attack which makes it impossible for some people to cast their vote
would have huge consequences. And it's hardly implausible to see criminals and
state-backed hacking groups trying to expand the use of ransomware across more
devices and scenarios in the near future. As we get more reliant on everything
from smart cities to driverless cars the risks get greater.
Ransomware offers crooks a vast number of potential victims, who
they can target with a cheap-to-deploy scam with a big payday and very little
chance of getting caught. Perhaps the real surprise is not that there are so
many ransomware attacks, but that there are not many, many more.
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