Ransomware is probably the most serious cyber security threat any organisation has to deal with. The threat actors are relentless with their efforts to infect both targeted victims and victims of opportunity. The usual ways in are a phishing email or infected webpage, with a convincing social engineering message.
Here are some of the high-profile victims from this week:
Caesars Entertainment confirms ransom payment, customer data theft (bleepingcomputer.com)
Auckland transport authority hit by suspected ransomware attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
MGM casino’s ESXi servers allegedly encrypted in ransomware attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
And from the UK:
Manchester Police officers’ data exposed in ransomware attack (bleepingcomputer.com)
Your takeaway – A Ransomware Primer
You need a ransomware plan – it does not have to be complicated, but it needs to exist before any incident, so you can reassure all your stake holders that you are still in control.
I have a ransomware mini-series, which contains a lot of advice on the do, don’t, why and how of ransomware for smaller businesses and organisations. The eleven-part series will not take you more than a mug of tea or coffee to read and you can check your current plan against my advice and ideas.
Training
As phishing and infected web sites are the most common ways of infecting a system with ransomware, you should ensure that you and your team are equipped to understand the current threat actor tactics. Once you know what the threat actors can do, then you and your team will be able to respond correctly to a suspicious email or a web page that behaves unusually.
Of course this will lead back to your ransomware plan – which work for other malware and incidents. You do have a first response to any malware or unusual computer activity, don’t you?
Our training is flexible – it has to be. We are not delivering to huge corporates, we deliver to small organisations all of whom have their own specific requirements for the training. Have a look and see if we can help you achieve better cyber security and defend against ransomware.
Clive Catton MSc (Cyber Security) – by-line and other articles
