More and more businesses and organizations are getting stung by ransomware demands. The headlines focus on hospitals, schools, social networks etc but it affects small businesses just as much and the effects can be devastating. If you’re a small business in Berkshire, you’re just as likely to get hit as a big US corporation and probably a lot less able to afford the consequences.
Tallied across the world, the hackers are raking inbillions.
Ransomware attacks are devious in their simplicity. A user in the target business is tricked into opening a file, usually through a phishing email or download. The file contains malware which instantly encrypts your data and demands money in exchange for the password.
No payment = no password = no data
All of the target businesses should have backups, which they could simply revert to without paying any money, but the FBI reports more than $209 million was sent to hackers in the first quarter of this year alone. Keep in mind, this was just payments within the US, and only counts those who came forward.
Aren’t backups helping?
Sometimes the backup solution fails and the data can’t be retrieved. This is particularly true in cases where the solution has been in use for years and something failed along the way.
In many cases, businesses simply are not backing up all the data that they assume is being backed up. Without a professional Backup Audit, it can be hard to be 100% sure you are backing up what needs to be backed up.
In other instances, the target business has a backup that can be restored, but it doesn’t include everything they need for full recovery.
Finally, and the most common reason so many businesses are forced to pay the ransom: the ransomware attack affects the entire system – including attached and synchronized backups. If the backup is also caught in the ransomware encryption, it becomes useless as a recovery method and the only options are to pay or lose the data forever.
Each day spent trying to recover the data is a drain on valuable business resources and in many cases, results in massive revenue loss.
The only defense is to block the malware before it can infect the first workstation, and then continue the protection with a comprehensive backup strategy for all workstations and servers.
Give us a call today to arrange a Backup Audit or for advice on securing your business against this ever-growing threat: 01344 715436