How to Prevent Yourself from Ransomware Attacks

Cetas Cyber
4 min readNov 10, 2022

Ransomware is malware that locks users out of their computers or encrypts their files to get money from them.

While ransomware continues to see code, victim, and purpose modifications, most improvements to the attacks themselves are small and incremental.
The increased usage of remote work has been related to an increase in ransomware attacks. Image Source: freepik

Introduction

Ransomware is malware that locks users out of their computers or encrypts their files to get money from them.

A deadline is often part of a ransom demand.

If the victim doesn’t pay on time, the data is deleted, or the ransom amount goes up.

Ransomware attacks are too common now, which is a shame. There have been effects on many well-known companies in the US, Canada, and Europe.

Cybercrime affects people from all walks of life and all income levels.

Ransomware victims come from all walks of life. Ransom demands are often in the $100 to $200 range.

However, more is necessary for specific corporate attacks, such as when the attacker knows that the blocked data would cause significant financial damage to the targeted firm.

That is why hackers find these approaches so lucrative: In each of the following examples, the hacking victim is more important than the ransomware utilized.

Examples of Ransomware

Organizations may better prepare for future ransomware attacks by familiarizing themselves with the strategies, vulnerabilities, and defining features of the most common ransomware assaults.

While ransomware continues to see code, victim, and purpose modifications, most improvements to the attacks themselves are small and incremental.

Examples of Ransomware №1: WannaCry

After infecting over 250,000 computers throughout the globe, a killswitch was triggered to halt the spread of a ransomware worm that had been created using a strong Microsoft vulnerability.

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Examples of Ransomware №2: CryptoLocker

One of the earliest ransomware strains of the modern age, it encrypts a user’s hard disk and any associated network drives and demands payment in the form of Bitcoin.

Emails purporting to track notices from FedEx and UPS were used to promote Cryptolocker.

In 2014, a decryption tool was made available for this.

However, several sources indicate that CryptoLocker may have extorted as much as $27 million.

Examples of Ransomware №3: NotPetya

The NotPetya ransomware assault was one of the most severe ever recorded because it used techniques developed by its ancestor, Petya, including infecting and encrypting the master boot record of a Windows computer.

Spreading swiftly by exploiting the same vulnerability as WannaCry, NotPetya demanded payment in bitcoin to roll back the alterations it made.

Some have called NotPetya a “wiper” since it permanently deletes the master boot record and makes the infected machine unusable.

Examples of Ransomware №4: Bad Rabbit

Bad Rabbit was a well-publicized ransomware that mostly affected media organizations in Russia and Ukraine.

It is thought to be related to NotPetya since it uses similar code and vulnerabilities to propagate.

Bad Rabbit, unlike NotPetya, did allow for decryption if the ransom was paid.

It seems to have been disseminated through a bogus Flash player update that may cause damage to users via a drive-by download.

Examples of Ransomware №5: REvil

The creators of REvil are hackers with a financial motive for their malicious work.

Information is stolen before encryption, so victims may be coerced into paying if they refuse to pay the ransom.

The IT management software being used to patch Windows and Mac infrastructure had been hacked, which led to the assault.

The Kaseya application was hacked so that the REvil ransomware could be injected into business networks.

Examples of Ransomware №6: Ryuk

Ryuk is a ransomware program used for spear phishing that is spread manually.

Reconnaissance is used to pick out the best targets.

All data stored on the infected machine are encrypted and then delivered through email to the victims.

How to Protect Yourself from Ransomware Attacks

Protect your email against malicious software known as ransomware

Phishing scams and spam emails are often the most common ways ransomware is disseminated.

It is necessary to have secure email gateways equipped with security against targeted attacks to identify and stop malicious emails that carry ransomware.

These solutions safeguard user computers against harmful URLs, malicious attachments, and documents included in emails sent to user computers.

Protect your mobile devices against the threat of ransomware

When combined with mobile device management (MDM) solutions, mobile attack security systems can monitor apps on users’ devices and promptly inform users and IT of any applications that could compromise the environment.

Protect your online browsing from the threat of ransomware

To detect potentially dangerous web advertising that might lead users to ransomware, consumers’ online browsing activity may be scanned by secure web gateways.

Keep an eye on your server, network, and important system backups

Monitoring programs may identify odd file access activities, infections, network C&C activity, and CPU loads, and in certain cases, they can detect these things in time to prevent ransomware from activating.

Keeping a complete image copy of critical systems may lessen the likelihood that a computer that has crashed or been encrypted would cause a crucial bottleneck in the functioning of the business.

To Sum it Up

The increased usage of remote work has been related to an increase in ransomware attacks.

As a consequence of the epidemic, a new business model arose worldwide.

Attempted assaults against remote employees have a far greater success rate.

Because many home users utilize a mix of personal and business equipment, the lack of enterprise-level cybersecurity makes it harder for them to combat sophisticated assaults.

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Cetas Cyber

Automate SOC lifecycle to detect and respond to real threats that matter using AI. visit: www.cetascyber.com