Understanding Ransomware Attacks
Why and How Organisations are Targeted
The recent significant ransomware attack on the HSE shut down its IT systems and it was a “major incident” for the health service. Organisations like the HSE are very vulnerable to these kind of attacks because there is massive pressure to retrieve the very sensitive and valuable information they hold.
Ransomware is a type of software intentionally designed to cause damage to a computer/network that converts information into a code to prevent access to victims’ files or folders. In order to unlock the files and folders, victims must pay a “ransom” to their attacker. In certain cases, victims can be locked out of applications and entire IT systems causing a significant disruption to their business or organisation.
A ransomware victim will try to open a file on their computer and they will receive a disturbing pop-up that tells them that their system has been encrypted and locked. Within the pop-up, there will be instructions for paying the ransom and accessing a secret key to decrypt the file. There is usually a countdown timer for making the payment to the attacker.
There are quite a few ways that ransomware can gain access to your computers and systems. However, the most common delivery method is phishing spam i.e. where attachments are sent to the victim’s email, masquerading as a trustworthy document or file. As soon as you click, open, and download a file, the ransomware creates a backdoor to gain control of your computer and files.
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