Is Ransomware Still Something You Need to Worry About?

It wasn’t too long ago that the news was filled with reports about the trend of ransomware sweeping through the internet.

It was one of the most potent forms of digital terrorism and ruined the lives of both random individuals and entire organizations. 

For the uninitiated, ransomware is a type of malware that makes the data on your hard drive inaccessible and demands money in exchange for the decryption key. Fail to pay, and you might never see your data again. 

Today, it feels like no one talks about ransomware anymore.

Is it still a problem? How do you protect yourself if it is? Let’s find out today. 

Yes, Ransomware Still Exists, and it’s Even More Dangerous

It’s unfortunate, but not surprising.

Why would hackers abandon one of the most effective malware models overnight? Just last month, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General had to shut down its network, consisting of email accounts, phone lines, and its website.

The reason? A ransomware attack. The A.G.’s office stated that no ransom was paid. 

So yes, ransomware is still active, but it seems to target governments and organizations more so than random individuals.

Unfortunately, it has found one more way to cause hurt: double extortion. 

In the past, the core principle was to lock up your data. If you pay, you get it back (maybe). This simplicity also meant that a lot of people actually paid up. Modern ransomware goes an extra step and steals your data first.

If you fail to pay, the data gets leaked on forums where other hackers can sift through your data and find new ways to target you. 

As you can imagine, this is particularly disastrous for businesses that hold sensitive data on their hardware.

So, now, even if you have backups of your data, it doesn’t matter because you are being threatened with data leaks and not just encryption. 

What Can You Do?

Stop thinking of cybersecurity as something that needs to become active once the damage is done.

Proactiveness is the key if you want any hope of staying safe, not just from ransomware, but any kind of data breach. The ironic part is that this is easier than people think. It’s just that they allow standards to be lax enough that they’re figuratively leaving the door open at night. 

Everyone is susceptible to this, even innocent institutions. A few years back, public schools in Albuquerque were hit with a ‘devastating’ ransomware attack.

The attack was so large that it affected over 70,400 students and over 10,890 employees. To ensure the situation never repeated, the district started looking for cybersecurity services in Albuquerque and eventually, globally, to prevent future attacks. 

This begs the question: how do hackers manage to get in? As Document Technologies explains, it’s typically via email attachments, phony websites, infected USB flash drives, and by using outdated software. 

Likewise, America’s cyber defense agency, CISA, notes that the best practice is to store backups on a device that cannot be accessed from a network.

Likewise, keep your computer updated, as vulnerable applications and operating systems are what most hackers target with ransomware. 

Naturally, these steps don’t guarantee protection, but they do lower the odds of getting hit. However, if by some chance you do become a victim, you might be asking the following question. 

Should You Ever Pay The Ransom?

This is a tough one. The default answer is no. All the experts say that you should never pay ransoms.

The FBI says it does not support paying a ransom as it doesn’t guarantee you get your data back and encourages perpetrators to target more people.

However, in 2021, when ransomware attacked Colonial Pipeline, the FBI oversaw the payment of 75 Bitcoin ($4.4 million) ransom in return for the decryption key. 

So, their advice didn’t seem to apply to Colonial Pipeline, the largest refined oil product pipeline, but apparently, it should apply to you? The FBI later went after the group behind the attack and took them down, but only recovered half the ransom.

Your company data may not be as important as oil is to the FBI, but it’s still important to you. 

So, you’ll have to make the decision whether you want to deny paying the ransom on principle or take the risk that your files are returned/not leaked. It’s a gamble, but ultimately your call.  

All things considered, ransomware is one of the worst types of cyberattacks that you can encounter. These days, it’s almost impossible to run any sort of business completely on paper.

The best-case scenario is consciously auditing what data gets stored on digital devices so that data loss and leaks do not hurt you.