Global cyber-attack would cost businesses billions

A new report has produced findings in which it claims that a coordinated global cyber attack could cause economic damage of between £65-96 billion.

In the hypothetical scenario developed for Lloyds of London and Aon, findings showed that a malicious campaign similar to those of real-life ransomware (such as WannaCry and Not Petya) could spread around the world incredibly quickly and cause devastating damage in its wake.

The scenario involved an infected email which once opened forwards itself to all contacts. It estimated that within 24 hours, data on 30 million devices worldwide could be encrypted and business owners faced with the prospect of paying a ransom or losing their data.

The impact on those businesses through reduced operation, productivity, consumption, ransomware payments and disruption to the supply chain was estimated to be in the tens of billions with businesses most heavily impacted in Europe and North America.

6 ways to protect your business from ransomware attacks

A recent report from cyber security company Sophos has uncovered some disturbing trends in the advancement of online crime. The report found that teams of online criminals are now turning to targeted ransomware attacks as a means of earning millions of dollars from businesses and high-value individuals.

The report by SophosLabs also suggested that cyber criminals are manipulating flaws in Windows systems admin tools as a means of stealing sensitive information and of delivering ransomware. Once activated, the ransomware will cut off access either to the entire system or specific files until the user delivers a ransom payment – usually paid for in untraceable currency such as BitCoin. However, there are no guarantees that a payment will mean your data will be restored.

Following a string of worrying malware strains released last year such as Meltdown, Spectre, Foreshadow, Petya, NotPetya, X-bash and WannaCry, it is important that businesses have protocols in place to defend against and minimise damage carried out by a ransomware attack. Here are just a few things that you can do.

Microsoft releases enhanced protections for ransomware aimed at small businesses

In the face of growing danger from cyber threats such as ransomware and phishing, Microsoft have released an upgraded set of features for their Microsoft 365 business edition in the hopes of safeguarding small businesses.

Microsoft has said that Microsoft 365 Business will now include sophisticated scanning of attachments and AI-powered analysis to uncover and destroy malicious messages. The updates also include automatic checking of links in emails and full device protection to prevent devices from accessing ransomware and other suspicious web locations.

British businesses warned to stay vigilant in the face of Ransomware attacks

A new report from security watchdog SonicWall has confirmed that the threat of Ransomware is greater than ever in the UK and that British businesses in particular should sit up and take note, with over 38 attacks every day on UK based companies and organisations.

What is Ransomware?

Ransomware is a form of malware which locks away a victim’s files and then requests payment to have them returned. Ransoms are paid through a digital currency such as Bitcoin, which allows for highly encrypted and anonymous transactions. While a ransomware attack can be a nuisance for individual computer users, for businesses the repercussions can be far greater. A loss of sensitive data, particularly that of clients and customers can lead to serious damage to reputation and financial losses. In order to protect themselves from Ransomware, businesses should work closely with IT security specialists to ensure that systems are updated with the latest software, patches and firewalls and that they have access to offline backups of their data should the worst happen, and they fall victim to a ransomware attack.

Ransomware here to stay says Google

Businesses are being warned to protect themselves after tech giant Google released research claiming that cyber thieves have extorted a total of £19m from ransomware since 2015.

At a talk at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas, Elie Bursztein from Google revealed the results of research conducted with Chainalysis, the University of California and New York University which looked at bitcoin transactions over the period. It concluded that ransomware has become a “very profitable market and is here to stay”.

Interestingly, Google highlighted the fact that less than 40% of computer users currently back up their data – a move which could protect you in the event of a ransomware attack. It also predicted that more varied strains of ransomware are being developed to compete with the already popular Locky and Cerber strains, which according to the report generated £5.9m and £5.2m from victims respectively.

Windows 10 update to make Ransomware attacks more difficult

Controlled Folder Access – that’s the name of a new feature coming to Windows which could add extra protection against dangerous Ransomware like WannaCry and Petya.

News coming from technology website The Verge says that Microsoft will include a special tool in their next major update expected in September.

The ‘Controlled Folder Access’ option which will be found in the Windows Defender Security Centre will offer users an option to ‘protect their files and folders from unauthorized changes by unfriendly applications’ thereby preventing a user being ‘locked out’ of their files by a Ransomware attack.

Watch out for ‘Locky’ Ransomware spreading via social media

Reports are coming in of dangerous Ransomware beginning to spread through social media networks.

Users have reported receiving suspicious JPEG files in personal messages through social media networks like Facebook & LinkedIn which contain Ransomware.

Sent via personal messages, these image files trigger an automatic download when clicked on. This downloaded file contains Ransomware.

This particular strain of Ransomware known as ‘Locky’ is activated as soon as the unsuspecting victim clicks on the downloaded image. As soon as this happens they find that all of their files on their computer have become encrypted and are no longer accessible.

Will your employees be tricked by email scams and viruses?

Despite an ever increasing number of online attacks being reported in the media and harrowing new cyber threats like Ransomware being created, many companies are still failing to take effective action to improve their online security. As well as failing to keep their anti-virus software and firewalls up to date, they also fail to educate their workforce on the latest threats - a key part of securing their operations.

Phishing scams are one of the most common forms of fraud committed online today. They involve tricking an email recipient into handing over sensitive data and trusted information. A hacker may send an email which looks as if it has been sent by a supplier, a company that you work with on a regular basis, a service provider or even another employee in your own business. So they aren’t always obvious. They hacker may then try and encourage the recipient to download a piece of software, visit an unsafe website or supply them directly with sensitive information that they can exploit.

Ransomware is ‘biggest immediate cyber threat’

A recent report from the security firm Kaspersky Lab has claimed that so called ‘Ransomware’ is now the biggest and most persistent threat to internet security.

Their report, which you can read here, acknowledges that there were as many as 2,900 incidents of Ransomware attacks during the first three months of 2016, a 14% increase on the previous quarter.

Ransomware: could you be blackmailed by hackers?

Ransomware is one of the most recent threats to your online security. We look at what it is, how it works and how you can protect your business effectively.

What is it?
Ransomware, as the name suggests, is a form of malware which locks away a victim’s files and then requests payment from them to have them returned.

In 2013, Cryptolocker attacked around 250,000 computers worldwide stealing personal files and refusing to return them unless a ransom was paid immediately, which a high amount of victims went ahead and did.

Ransoms are paid through a digital currency such as Bit coin, which allows transactions to be made anonymously.