Ransomware phenomenon continues to dominate the threat landscape. It is growing trend from past few years. This malicious software affects sectors including universities, hospitals, law firms, banks, Government, mobile users and various organizations equally worldwide emphasis, Roger Samara.
In fact, Ransomware attacks are happening on a daily basis and still have a high rate of success. Hence, cyber-security professionals are still scrambling to contain a universal Ransomware attack.
This malware has pretentious tens of thousands of computer networks in nearly 100 countries, including Russia, U.S., U.K., Ukraine, China, and India. Do you want to know in detail what Ransomware is and how it affects the cyber-security? Let’s have a look!
What is Ransomware?
Ransomware is a progressively popular and troublesome form of cyber crime. It is a piece of sophisticated malware, once take control over your system, threatens you with harm, generally by disagreeing you access to your files. This malicious software locks down all files on computer networks and asks the victim to pay a ransom in order to regain control over the files.
A pop-up window show instructions to the victim on how to pay a charge to get the decryption key of their system. Attackers can ask for money ranging from a few hundred dollars to thousands. Furthermore, they ask ransom virtual currency such as bitcoin, so that the cybercriminal identity is not known.
How Ransomware Works
There are a number of ways ransomware can take access to the computers. One of the most common vectors is phishing spam means an attachment that comes to the victim in an email. This harmful virus spreads from computer to computer on a network via email attachments masquerading as a file people should trust.
As you download or open it, the virus can take over your machine says Roger Samara– the master of the computer world. Moreover, another type of ransomware i.e. NotPetya breaches security holes to affect machines without demanding to trick users.
How Ransomware Infection Spreads
Cyber-criminals always try to discover new methods to extract personal data and infect a person’s computer with malware. You are lucky if you are not the victim of a cyber-attack till now. It is necessary to be proactive and keep your machines up to date for maximum protection.
Actually, cybercriminals look for the easiest way to attacks computer networks and use the backdoor to distribute a malicious code. Hence, it is essential to check the ways of spreading ransomware infection that attackers use:
- Spam emails that contain malicious links or attachments.
- Internet traffic that redirects to malicious websites.
- Self-propagation capabilities.
- Taking advantage of security exploits in susceptible software.
- Malvertising campaigns.
The security breaches take place because online criminals are improving their methods day by day by using technical knowledge along with psychological manipulation.
Who has it affected so far?
Spain reports the ransomware attack firstly. The largest telecom in Spain hit with a pop-up window asking a $300 ransom in order to get access to files again. And after this approximate 16 hospitals in England’s National Health Service were pretentious. This virus locks doctors and nurses out of patient’s information until they get a ransom.
The network cyber attacks are being blamed on a piece of malware called WCry, WannaCry or Wana Decryptor. According to a report, it was allegedly spread by the Shadow Brokers which claim to have hack NSA link tea of attackers. Actually, the Shadow Brokers group which is fictional of having ties to Russia, posts windows hacking tools.
Victims of the bout are reactive with a pop-up window that says them their files are now encoded. And they have to pay $300 in bitcoin in order to unlock files. The message is in the different languages and says:
“You can unlock some files for free. If you want to regain the access to all the files, you have to pay. Also, you have only three days to submit payment. After that ransom will get double.”
Roger Samara also add that the pop-up window contains a countdown clock that intimidates that files will be lost forever in seven days.
Wana Decryptor abuses a Windows flaw that was a patch in Microsofts Security Bulletin MS17-010. But the computers that are not up to date, the malicious code encodes all the files and then spreads itself. The infection of a single machine ends up conceding the whole company network.
The malware is both influential as well as insidious. You just walk up to your system and it’s pretentious, even if you did not touch it. All that can happen if your machine is ON and on the network.
Worldwide reaction to Ransomware Attack
In the United State, the Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT) collect numerous reports of ransomware attacks computer networks in many countries around the world. However, the agency did not recognize those countries.
Furthermore, the Department of Homeland Security tells that it’s synchronizing with international cyber partners in the wake of prevalent attacks. A member of Senate Armed Services Committee says that:
“Ransomware is really a big problem across the world, doctors and staffs are struggling to treat patients without having their digital records or dosages. Also, ambulances are being redirected, and millions of individual’s data are possibly exposed. We will likely look back at this as a crisis moment.”
England’s NHS says that ransomware hit at least 16 of its organizations. System’s digital office statement says that network cyber-attacks not particularly targets at the NHS. And is affecting organizations from across a range of sectors.
The ransomware attack also hit the amenities in Scotland. The Health Secretary Shona Robison says security experts are taking instant steps to decrease the influence of the ransomware across NHS Scotland.
IT workers at public health care system say that it is a major problem they have seen in their six years working. As of now, this malicious software has been localized says, Roger Samara Computer Technician. There has been no inside information leak from the Russian Interior Ministry’s information resources.
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