How do I mitigate the risk of Ransomware? (Level 1)

How do I mitigate the risk of Ransomware? The lifeblood of most businesses is data. Make sure you backup data regularly, and move the backup off the network.  Some Ransomware looks at your network and encrypts everything.  If you data is backed up on a network share or Networks Attached Storage (NAS), that data may be encrypted as well.  Off network backups or archives.   Spend some time thinking about your backup policy and how long you can afford to be down and without access.  Separate your critical business data and restrict access. Backup everything. Always.  If you’re unsure, consult with an expert.  Call me, ‘I know a guy’. 2016-12-19 MDux

Ransomware Data Points (Level 2)

Ransomware Data Points In the next five days I will walk through some basics of Ransomware. This post lists out some data points from Kaspersky (with a few exceptions).  This should scare you. If you're not at least alarmed, then you definately need to read the next few posts! Ransomeware Data Points: Statistics from Kaspersky Labs (Security software company) 2016 gave us: 758,044,650 attacks launched from online resources located all over the world 62 new ransomware families           (most malware will have an original, and several versions.  Those together are called a family as they are all related) 11 fold increase in modifications to various malware from Q1 to Q3. 1 in 5 SMBs that were infected AND paid the ransom, never got their data back. 1 in 5 businesses worldwide suffered and IT security incident as a result of a ransomware attack. 42% of SMBs were hit with ransomware from Oct 2105 to Oct 2016 32% paid the ransom 67% of those affected lost part or all of their corporate data.  1 in 4 spent several weeks to restore access 97% of malware is unique to a specific endpoint, rednering signature-based security virtually useless 98% of Microsoft Office- targeted threats use macros (Microsoft, 2016) 600%+ incrase in attachement-based vs URL deliverd malware attacks from mid 2015 to 2015 (Proofpoint, 2015) 6000% increase in ransomware from 2015 to 2016 (IBM, 2016) Who got hit, by sector? Education – 23%  (23% of the Education sector was hit by Ransomware) IT /Telcom – 22% Entertainment/Media – 21% Financial Services - 21% Construction - 19% Government/Public Sector/Defense – 18% Manufacturing – 18% Transport – 17% Healthcare – 16% Retail/Wholesale/Leisure – 16% 2016-12-15 MDux