Unfortunately, ransomware attacks are now more common: Your business is hit by ransomware, and your valuable and sensitive data is locked by cyber criminals demanding an exorbitant ransom fee.
You can’t afford to pay for it. But there's a twist now, some ransomware gangs are offering victims payment extension options.
Options??
Recent activity reveals that ransomware groups are getting creative with their extortion strategies. One group is even offering victims options when it comes to paying their ransom demands. These options include:
Paying to delay the publication of their stolen data, with a standard fee of $10,000… or paying to have their stolen data deleted before it's made public.
The amount charged is negotiated with victims, adding a chilling dimension to the whole ordeal.
And to increase the pressure on victims, these ransomware groups have added additional pressure and motivating features to their websites. These include countdown timers displaying how much time businesses have before their data is released, view counters, and even tags revealing the victim's identity and description.
It's all designed to apply pressure and corner you into giving up your money.
You will be tempted to pay a ransom to protect your business data. But not so fast. Paying is always a bad idea and here’s why…
Making the payment or meeting demands doesn't guarantee you'll get your critical data back or that cybercriminals won't demand more money later.
By paying, you're essentially funding criminal activities, encouraging them to continue their attacks on others.
How to safeguard your business from ransomware
So, what can you do to safeguard your business from falling victim to ransomware?
- Ensure you have regular, secure backups of your data. Test your backups. This way, you won't be at the mercy of cybercriminals.
- Educate your staff on the risks of ransomware. Conduct cyber security awareness training to help them identify phishing emails by using specific criteria. Teach them how to identify questionable links and attachments.
- Invest in robust cyber security tools and security software.
- Keep your systems and software updated with the latest security patches.
- Segment your network to limit the spread of ransomware among infected systems.
- Develop a clear incident response or ransomware response plan, so everyone in your organization knows exactly what to do if an attack hits.
Making a payment to cyber criminals rarely makes things better, plus we’ve learned that criminals who receive a successful payout return to the same place to get another.
Instead, invest in the proactive cyber security measures above to help you stay secure.
Implement proactive security measures
If we can help you with proactive security measures, or an incident response plan, contact us.
