2016 seems to be the year of ransomware, with more malware headlines than ever before. Whether it’s a phishing email scam or the latest strain of ransomware, it’s all bad news for businesses and data protection. People are interested in reading and educating themselves about ransomware, which is evident as we reflect on our most popular blog posts of 2016:
1. Hospital Forced To Pay King’s Ransom After Cyber Attack
In February, Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital In L.A. was hit with a massive ransomware attack. To unlock their data, they were forced to pay 40 bitcoins, or roughly $17,000. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first hospital to be hit with malware, nor was it the last. In May, hackers refused to decrypt patient data in an attack at the Kansas Heart Hospital and demanded multiple payments. These healthcare targeting cyber bullies are putting lives at risk and without a care in the world. Read the full post here.
Ransomware is the cash cow for today’s hackers, netting cyber thieves millions of dollars a year. From CryptoLocker to Locky to CryptoWall and TeslaCrypt, it’s all bad news for vulnerable end users and businesses. In April, we published an infographic providing statistics on the current state of malware in the US. It highlights the increased risk of businesses today in hopes of raising awareness of the need for total data protection. Read the full post here.
3. Three Lessons From A CryptoLocker Attack
Darkode, a Radiolab podcast, covered a family who fell victim to a CryptoLocker attack. A total of 5,726 files were encrypted, and they were forced to pay $500 worth of bitcoin to regain access photos, tax files and other important documents. James Bergl, Australia & New Zealand Sales Manager, offers three lessons we can learn from the attack. Read the full post here.
This April blog post provided a basic overview of the most common forms of ransomware, including Locky, TeslaCrypt, and TorrentLocker. In addition to the common types, we also discuss how ransomware is spread and how you can best protect your clients from these threats and the methods in which they are spread. Read the full post here.
5. Jigsaw Ransomware: Anything But A Game
Jigsaw encrypts, then progressively deletes files until the ransom of $150 is paid. The ransomware deletes a single file after the first hour, then deletes more and more per hour until the 72-hour mark, when all of your remaining files are deleted. This blog provides a brief background on Jigsaw ransomware and few simple tips on how to protect against ransomware. Read the full post here.
6. Denny’s Survives Ransomware Attack With Backupify For Google Apps
After Denny’s experienced two separate incidents of data loss, they knew enough was enough. To better protect the company’s Google Apps data from accidental deletion and ransomware, they adopted Datto’s Backupify solution. When they were hit with ransomware a few months later, Backupify kept business moving as usual. Read the full post here.
7. Locky, TeslaCrypt Among Latest Ransomware Threats
In this post, we covered some of the most recent ransomware threats in the news. In its first week, Locky infected an estimated 90,000 machines per day. TeslaCrypt uses an Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm to encrypt files. It’s typically distributed via the Angler exploit kit specifically attacking Adobe vulnerabilities. We provided some background and a few quick tips to help avoid these new forms of ransomware. Read the full post here.
Christine Gassman is manager of partner development at Datto Inc. Read more Datto blogs here.
