Ransomware Attacks That Serve As A Warning to Modern Business

A ransomware attack is where a hacker finds a way to lock up your systems or corrupt your files, and then charges you a fee to fix the problem. Even with the best of protection, you need a service for data backup in Los Angeles to keep your files safe. That way, if you are attacked, you need not worry because you can quickly replace your lost/locked files.

CryptoLocker and CryptoWall

CryptoLocker and CryptoWall

In 2013, the CryptoLocker infected more than 250,000 systems and earned the creators over three million dollars. The only way that authorities know this is because when the Gameover ZeuS botnet was taken down, they had tracked and recorded every transaction they had ever done.

However, in 2014, the same system re-emerged under new leadership and started spam emailing people. It evolved into CryptoWall, and by 2015, the same system had earned eighteen millions for its creators before they disappeared. The malicious program would simply lock a computer by encrypting its key systems. You were then given sixty hours to pay the money for the encryption key, or you lost your computer forever.

Attacking Hospitals

Banks and financial institutions are not attacked that often. Most often, it is small businesses that are attacked. However, when it comes to big-money payments, hospitals are the target. Hospitals in the USA have paid up to seventeen thousand dollars at a time in order to regain control of their systems. Lives were at risk and they couldn’t wait for their entire systems to be reset.

In Ottawa, a hospital in 2016 had 9800 of its machine locked by ransomware, so the admins in the hospital purposefully crashed the systems and did a very hard reset. They backed up their files every day, so were able to get back up and running again within 24 hours without having to pay anybody a penny. The lesson here is that a service providing data backup in Los Angeles is worth whatever you pay for it because it is the only true protection against ransomware attacks.

Final Thoughts – Ransomware Attacks Could Be Very Common

One of the biggest commonalities that authorities are seeing between ransomware attacks is the fact that the criminals are not asking for millions. In most cases, they are asking for the amount you would need to buy a good second-hand car. The tactic, it seems, is to price the attacks in a way that the authorities never get involved. Even with small amounts of money in play, you should still opt for data backup in Los Angeles because you shouldn’t have to pay criminals under any circumstances.

Large and small companies do not want the bad publicity that comes with people knowing they have been attacked online. Even though things like personal data are rarely at risk, it never looks good if a company had down time or any sort of trouble because of an online attack. The fact that ransoms are so low may suggest that most companies hide when they are ransomware attacked. It is possible that most companies do not report being attacked, and simply pay the small ransom to avoid all the aggravation. If that is the case, ransomware attacks may be far more frequent than we first realized. Which is why, if you are having trouble with what you think is the start of a ransomware attack, then get in touch with IT Gurus and see if seasoned experts can help you regain control of your systems.

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