What is ransomware and how ready is your business from it?

What is ransomware?

Ransomware is a variation of malware (malicious software) that encrypts files and documents. It can infect a single unit of a computer or even an entire network, including a company’s servers. From the word itself, the perpetrator demands a ransom from the victim in exchange for a “decryption key” to regain access.

Cyber attackers do not distinguish who to target next. Ransomware attackers do target not only large companies but also several small ones. In the first half of 2021, Singapore’s cybersecurity agency sounded the alarm of the increasing trend of ransomware attacks, noting that it has evolved into a “massive and systemic threat”.

In 2020, it was reported that 89 cases of ransomware attacks had been reported to the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA), a 159% increase in comparison to 2019’s 35 cases. This year, a total of 68 cases has been reported for the first half of 2021, doubled in number for the first half of 2020 last year.

“The number of reported cases we expect this year is likely to exceed the numbers that we saw last year. It’s probably just the tip of the iceberg because there are probably cases that are not reported to us,”

David Koh, CSA chief executive in an interview on The Business Times.

According to CSA, the local ransomware cases have significantly increased amid the global ransomware outbreak. Kaseya, a US-based IT company, was a victim of a ransomware attack that affected 1,500 businesses worldwide where the hackers demanded US$70 million in bitcoin to restore the data.

“Ransomware is no longer a sporadic nuisance, affecting a handful of machines. It has been transformed into a massive, systemic threat affecting entire networks of large enterprises. This is now a major security issue that affects Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) sectors and nations,”

Mr. Koh said in CSA’s report.

What is ransomware capable of can no longer be set aside and neglected. It is now a global concernthat businesses should worry about. With this in mind and when you own a business, the question remains, how ready is your business against a major ransomware attack?

Also Read: What You Should Know About The Data Protection Obligation Singapore

How ready is your business against a major ransomware attack?

Cybercriminals, in deploying ransomware attacks, can be compared to sniper. They work as an owl; they don’t make a noise or leave any footprint with their kill. To put it into perspective, cybercriminals have evolved into targeting large companies and have still managed to infiltrate them without a pip.

For example, the IT team that APAC hired discovered that the company had been hacked over several months already and never noticed it. Although the company was still on the early onset of the attack, the cybercriminals had already encrypted some files and computers. That’s how serious this problem is.

In comparison to your business, how can you ensure that you are not being targeted by ransomware attackers who might already be in your system? The answer is Privacy Ninja.

Privacy Ninja is here for you

Privacy Ninja can map run a series of tests to scan your system and see if there are unwanted visitors in your system. If there is unauthorized access, it can quickly deploy the latest cybersecurity solution with ease.

Further, Privacy Ninja can do penetration testing to see if your system and other aspects of your business can be prone to vulnerabilities. Privacy Ninja can patch it up for you, so you won’t need to worry about future attacks.

Also Read: What it means to get Data Protection Trustmark Certification