New Ransomware Bad Rabbit is Wreaking Havoc

Bottom Line Up Front: Preparation is your best friend to defend against Ransomware – get a backup system now for your company’s network and your personal computer

On October 24^th, the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team announced reports of a new ransomware infecting computers around the world. This attack is the third major international ransomware campaign in 2017 alone, with NotPetya and WannaCry preceding it. These fittingly ominous names represent the widespread damage and monetary losses caused by these attacks.

Ransomware is a form of hacking that holds sensitive data hostage until payment is received. When a malicious link is clicked or software downloaded, the virus locks the user out of the system until a ransom is paid, often through Bitcoin or similar money transferring services. Ransomware can affect any business, large or small, and it has been growing in popularity due to its extensive success.

There are simple preventative measures that can be taken to avoid falling prey to ransomware:

Do not download an Adobe Flash installer from a third-party website

Ransomware often poses as common applications or software downloads that users are most likely to trust. Bad Rabbit did just that with Adobe, and has already been successful in extorting thousands of dollars from its victims. Ads on gambling and other adult sites can, and usually are, malicious.

Do not click on email links

Clicking on seemingly benign links is a major cause of cyber breach, resulting in millions in losses annually. Fortunately, chances of preventing this type of attack increase dramatically when a company trains their employees to detect and avoid such links.

Paying the ransom is a heavy decision

Not only does it reward criminals, it is possible that your data will not be freed even upon payment. However, if you have no backup and an IT forensic specialist cannot salvage the data, you may be forced to pay it and then wipe the equipment or buy new gear.

Once a ransomware attack takes hold, it is extremely difficult to recover data. Learn more about security awareness training and other cybersecurity measures on our website. We so often find that what Ben Franklin told us continues to ring true: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

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