You couldn’t go a week last year without seeing a ransomware headline in the news. And it wasn’t because the media paid more attention to this relative newcomer in the area of cybercrime. Ransomware attacks on businesses skyrocketed 365% in 2019, and all signs point to more of the same in 2020.
As bad as the ransomware scourge was for businesses, local governments arguably had it worse. Baltimore, Atlanta, and Akron were among the bigger cities hit, followed shortly thereafter by Lake City and Riviera Beach in Florida, and then a coordinated campaign against 22 Texas municipalities. New Orleans was hit later on in the year, and still hasn’t completely restored its data and services.
While the number of ransomware attacks is enough to make even the calmest among us want to hide in a panic room, the likelihood of such attacks slowing down is right up there with the chance that President Trump will be asking U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman to prepare his tax return this year.
We can’t hide from the threat. Cybersecurity experts are aligned on this point: Ransomware is a serious issue. The situation is not going to be magically resolved. But while it’s worked on, there’s something all of us can do. Businesses, individuals, governments, and organizations alike can become savvier about the threat, understand the scope of the problem and prepare for it.
What Is Ransomware?
While the sophistication and methods of attack may vary, the short answer is that ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts critical data on a computer or computer network so that users can’t regain access without paying a “ransom.” The payment is typically demanded in bitcoin because it’s difficult to trace and easily transferable. Upon payment the hacker, if “honest,” will provide a digital key to decrypt the information. It doesn’t always go down that way. In fact, the criminal may leave the data encrypted after stealing it and put it up for sale on the dark web or simply use it in the commission of a crime.
While there have been some success stories when it comes to ransomware remediation, the odds are not in your favor. The safest bet is to prevent these attacks in the first place. But there have been informative examples of companies that mitigated the damage from a ransomware attack. If your Cliffs Notes version: Put yourself in a position where you can’t be affected by such a hack.
Backup Everything: Data recovery is an expensive and time-consuming process even when it isn’t being done in the wake of a ransomware attack. If the loss of your data is potentially catastrophic, the most straightforward solution is to back-up your systems and data and do it often. Bear in mind that your data backups will be of no use if they are also encrypted by a ransomware attack, so keep them stored separately and offline.
Silo Your Data: While the New Orleans ransomware attack was an unmitigated disaster for the city, one thing that helped was that it didn’t take their emergency services offline: police, paramedics, and fire departments were still able to respond to calls, because they were on a separate system from the compromised city services. Consider taking the same approach: run and maintain separate servers and storage for your data. While it may require more resources in the short term, doing this will greatly aid in the containment of the damage from a ransomware attack.
The unfortunate reality here is that the ransomware epidemic is likely to worsen before it improves. The best defense is to practice good cyber hygiene, backup data, keep systems patched and up-to-date, and invest in workplace training to identify phishing emails and other suspicious behavior. But if that fails, it’s wise to have a response plan in place.
