Ransomware has been a plague on security teams for a long time and has proliferated in recent years. There are different types of ransomware to be aware of, and each one is capable of causing major damage.
Verizon’s recent Data Breach Investigations Report found around a third of all breaches analyzed involved ransomware or some other extortion technique, and ransomware was found to be a top threat across 92% of industries.
It seems that ransomware is here to stay, and organizations of all kinds need to prepare for these attacks and put the right defenses in place. In this article, we’ll help you do that. We’ll show you how ransomware works, share some real-life examples of attacks, and look at the steps you should take to stay protected.
What Is Ransomware & How Does It Work?
Ransomware comes in a few different flavors, but the basic premise is the same — attackers will infiltrate your IT infrastructure and seize assets or data. They will then encrypt the data and refuse to return access to you unless you pay a ransom. They may also steal sensitive information and threaten to leak it if you don’t pay up.
The result for victims is often a serious financial hit. Paying the ransom itself is often extremely expensive, not to mention the downtime incurred by an attack and the lasting reputational damage.
Four Types of Ransomware Methodologies
Ransomware attackers can take several different actions to squeeze a ransom out of your company. Here are four common types of ransomware attacks:
- Attacks that encrypt key assets, forcing you to pay a ransom to regain access to critical information
- Attacks that threaten to leak highly sensitive information like customers’ health data or financial details if you don’t pay the ransom
- Using malware to prevent you from accessing or using your IT systems until you pay the ransom
- Ransomware-as-a-service — a type of “packaged” ransomware, where criminals can purchase pre-made ransomware kits from hackers and carry out attacks without any skill of their own
No matter the type of ransomware, an attack can be detrimental to your company in numerous ways, and it’s important to do everything in your power to stay safe.
Is Ransomware Illegal?
Carrying out a ransomware attack is illegal under multiple laws in the U.S. and many other countries (although many ransomware attacks are carried out from abroad, which can make prosecution difficult).
Where it gets tricky is the legality of suffering a ransomware attack. That’s right — complying with ransomware attackers can actually put you at risk of legal penalties. This is because paying a ransom can be seen as funding criminal activities or supporting sanctioned entities.
The bottom line here is that paying a ransom should never be considered without first enlisting expert legal help.
Real-Life Examples of Ransomware Attacks
Since ransomware attacks come in all shapes and sizes, it’s useful to take a look at a few real-life examples from recent years.
A Bad Day for Acer
In 2021, Taiwanese electronics company Acer was hit with what was, at the time, the biggest ransomware attack ever recorded.
The REvil/Sodinokibi gang seized multiple critical assets from Acer and published images of some of these online to prove their involvement. The colossal ransom demand was seen as an attempt to push up the accepted ransomware cost.
Attacking an Entire Nation
Companies are not the only targets of ransomware attacks. In 2022, the country of Costa Rica was hit with an attack by the Conti gang. The gang started by targeting the Ministry of Finance and then launched subsequent attacks on multiple other departments, including the Costa Rican Social Security Service, the Ministry of Science, Innovation, Technology and Telecommunications (MICITT), and the National Meteorological Institute.
After the president refused to pay the $10 million ransom, the attackers leaked the stolen data. This led to a state of emergency and an extended period of confusion and instability.
Ransomware-as-a-Service
Hive, a ransomware-as-a-service platform, was used to launch a major attack in 2022 against multiple customers of Microsoft’s Exchange Server.
The affiliate group exploited an unpatched vulnerability in Microsoft’s systems to install a backdoor. Organizations across multiple industries — including healthcare, energy, and financial services — were affected.
RaaS is becoming more and more common. The Hive group alone is responsible for hundreds of victims and marks a concerning trend in cybersecurity.
How to Prevent Ransomware Attacks
With ransomware such a pervasive problem in cybersecurity, how can you ensure safety? It’s important to remember that there’s no single solution here — proper ransomware defense involves many different interconnecting strategies.
Back Up Your Data
Securely backing up your key data and assets is one of the best things you can do to safeguard your organization against ransomware. Backups allow you to get back up and running quickly, with minimal downtime and no major losses.
In fact, the MS-ISAC says that backing up your data is the single most effective thing you can do to survive a ransomware attack. Ideally, your backups should be securely stored offline, safe from attackers, and you should regularly assess and test them.
Protect Your Data
Ransomware often attempts to encrypt drives, but what happens when the data is exfiltrated before encryption? Your data will be at risk of double extortion or disclosure even if you do recover from backups and don’t pay the ransom for a decryption key.
However, by encrypting your files, you prevent the bad actor from accessing your files. This doesn’t prevent theft, destruction, or disk encryption, but it does give you peace of mind that your data is useless to the attacker.
Train Your Teams
Ransomware is a form of social engineering attack, which means defense involves collective awareness and preparation from everyone in your organization. Conduct regular training sessions to keep employees informed about emerging and common types of ransomware, and make sure everyone knows what to look out for and what they should do in the event of an attack.
Use Cloud Security
The cloud can be a major benefit when it comes to staying safe from ransomware attacks, making it tougher for attackers to access your data and allowing you to recover more quickly.
Cloud security is essential here — you’ll want to make sure your cloud solutions are as secure as possible and able to scale easily with your company. The right cloud solution will allow you to quickly recover from attacks and get back up and running with minimal downtime and damage.
Email Security
Email phishing scams are one of the most common ways ransomware attacks begin. According to one survey, 54% of managed service providers (MSP) said phishing was the top delivery method for ransomware.
You should be teaching all your employees how to recognize suspicious emails and best practices to follow, like not downloading unknown files or clicking links in emails. You should also be using strong email filters and tools like DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) to authenticate all emails.
Work With an Expert
One of the best steps you can take to secure your organization against ransomware attacks is to work with an experienced and skilled team of experts.
DYOPATH’s DYOGUARD solution is a suite of security tools designed to adapt to your specific needs and the shape of your organization. It includes multiple features aimed at defending against ransomware — like Managed Email Security. We can also help you build incident response plans, playbooks, and even conduct tabletop exercises to find gaps in your preparations.
Learn more about how DYOGUARD can give your organization a major line of defense against ransomware and other threats.
