In this generation, more security battles are fought in the digital space than it is in the real world. Modern technology has both given us the advantage of convenience or efficiency, and the disadvantage of privacy or digital security risks.
As of this time there are a lot of cybersecurity threats, attacks, and risks, each with different methods and technical approaches. Although they share the same nature of harming your software, hardware, and even personal or company profiles.
Our topic in this article will be one of the most popular cybersecurity threats, which is popularly known as ‘Ransomware’. Here is everything you need to know about ransomware.
Ransomware
Ransomware is one of the largest forms of cybercrime that an organization can face today.
It is malicious software or malware that encrypts your documents, files, computer, or even your entire network and servers. If you become a target, you are only given two choices by the illegal hackers, either you pay the ransom price and regain your access from their encryption or work your cybersecurity system, restore your access from backups and recovery programs, or start again from scratch.
A ransomware can be triggered when a user opens or downloads a malicious file. The downloaded or opened file will then encrypt your files, network or computer. Other forms of ransomware attack come in a larger scale. Hackers exploit your software flaws, system vulnerabilities, and cracked passwords. Their goal will be to secretly hunt your network and take control of every vital information and hardware as much as possible before they proceed to encrypt them.
Evolution of Ransomware
Ransomware started way back in 1989 and after that, the malware has been continuously evolving and adapting to newer technology of this time. The basic ransomware method is through the use of cryptography.
Although it may sound basic, it has opened to several branches of cybercrime, where it was greatly driven during the internet age. Now, hackers use advanced cryptography and have been targeting corporate establishments and networks.
When a target computer or device gets encrypted and a ransom has been initiated, users mostly run a reboot and recover through the backup, which will then solve the problem. Hackers learned from this and now opted to lock down a device or PC along with all the files in it.
Different Ransomware Attacks
One of the most well known ransomware attacks is the ‘Sodinokibi’ or ‘REvil’. This attack started to emerge in 2019 and has become a threat to large organizations such as NY law firms for celebrity clients and Travelex. The group would demand millions of dollars from the organizations and threaten to release critical information that would damage a firm and a person.
There are new families and offspring of ransomware attacks, one will emerge as an innovation from the previous one, and some would disappear as they go out of trend.
Another notorious form of ransomware is the ‘Locky’. It made use of phishing emails to trigger and activate the malicious software in a target device. It was a successful hacking event that has made a name for itself all over the world.
Other notable attacks are ‘Cerber’, which targeted Windows software in 2017, ‘SamSam’, which made an estimate of $6 million ransom in 2017 to 2018, ‘GrandCrab’ which targets home and business users in 2018 to 2019 earning $2.5 million per week, and ‘Maze’ which can be triggered through system updates
Nevertheless, a ransomware attack can be devastating in both hardware, software, and to the user.
Career Opportunity
Part of the cybersecurity programs is to share awareness among companies, businesses, and users. Ransomware is one of the cybersecurity threats that keeps on terrorizing our cyberspace.
If you are interested to learn more about the different ways on how to protect your home, business, or enterprise from this ransomware. Learn cybersecurity at RCyberSolutions. We have professional career courses and certifications that are suitable to your needs.
