This is Part 2 of a 3 part series on keeping up with computer threats in the digital age. If you missed the first part, you can read about Viruses, Spyware & Trojans in Part 1.
Ransomware​
Ransomware is something that has been in the news a lot lately. As more of our systems and services have an online component, criminal syndicates are creating ways to take advantage of this for financial gain. A ransomware program has the ability to gain access to a system and spread, it works away in the background of a device and, in essence, can lock you out of your data by encrypting it or even moving it. Often the system will then display a message saying that the data has been locked and that you will need to pay a ransom to have it unlocked.
Ransomware is the number 1 security threat and can be highly profitable for hackers. Ransomware attacks can target individual computer users and small to medium sized businesses but increasingly large corporations and even government services and providers are being attacked. Many of these breaches have made the news lately with high profile providers such as Colonial Petroleum Pipeline and multiple hospitals, having their systems locked. At times the locking of this data can have very serious and even life-threatening consequences.
An attack on your personal system may see a request for a relatively small amount of money in the thousands but some larger targets may be required to pay millions of dollars to retrieve their data. Worryingly ransomware threats are on the increase with some hackers even offering RaaS or Ransomware as a Service where a hacker can provide a system that will take control of the whole process including the requesting of funds.
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Similar to ransomware is Doxware or Leakware which can infect your system and leverage your sensitive photos or files. It requests a ransom, which if not paid, will see your data shared online.
Ransomware can be hard to protect against with quality antivirus software being an essential first level of protection. As ransomware can be used to remotely lock your system through the use of services like iCloud, good password security is a must. Make sure to use different passwords for each of your logins and change them often. A password manager can assist in remembering all of your passwords with some even notifying you of a breach. Two-factor authentication is another security measure that can help you to stay secure. As companies like Windows and Apple are constantly fixing security vulnerabilities as, they will release system updates which contain ‘patches’ or fixes. Keeping your computer or mobile device up to date is a great general security measure.
Keeping a regular backup that is separate from your main system is also a good option. If your device is infected with ransomware, then you will have a copy of your data to restore. You can regularly backup to your cloud services such as Dropbox, Google Drive and iCloud or use a backup specific program that backups to an external hard drive while you work. A good practice is to have a rotating system of backup drives with one kept offsite. While external hard drives can be infected by ransomware, keeping an offsite drive will minimise this risk.
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Continue reading this series of 3 articles in Part 3, where we take a look at the threat of Phishing.Â
