Cybercrime is age-old trickery with a lethal digital revamp. Nowhere is this more evident than with ransomware.
As the name suggests, ransomware describes malicious software that takes your data and holds it for ransom. In SA the most common form (or flavour) of this malware is CTB Locker.
MD of Cyanre, Danny Myburgh says, “From an everyday computer user to government secret service, there is no preference when it comes to a targeted victim.”
Moreover, ransomware operators demand enough money to keep their operations profitable, while ensuring victims are capable of coming up with the money – often a very tricky balance.
How do I know I’m infected?
Ransomware is commonly orchestrated via email. Typically, a victim will receive an unsolicited email with either an attachment or web link. Once opened, it can lead to an infection on your computer. Depending on how it was crafted, it could target specific file types. These may include office documents, email archives, images, videos and database files. Moreover, some ransomware flavours can spread to your network shares and encrypt the company server.
The ransomware will provide the user with instructions on how to recover the encrypted files. This typically involves a guide to making a payment via a digital currency like BitCoin. Failure to pay within a specified time period results in threats, including permanently destroying the decryption keys and rendering encrypted files completely useless.
How should I react?
Although most victims feel compelled to pay, or risk losing files, not all ransomware is air tight. With the necessary expertise your files could be salvaged. Contact cyber forensic experts, like Cyanre, who can provide valuable
insights and possible solutions.
Back-ups are the answer
Surprisingly, the ideal solution will only cost you time and a bit of effort – backup. If you have a full backup of the data which has been taken for ransom, you are able to ignore the ransom demands, clean your machine and restore from the backup.
“Prevention is better than cure – keep your anti-virus up-to-date, don’t open unsolicited emails or links and ensure all data is backed up,” concludes Myburgh.