Technology continues to grow, changing how enterprises conduct business and how people live their lives. Now, think about the data that drives that change. It’s essential data is always available. It’s important for the person doing their banking on their phone, for the person shopping online, and the person using GPS while driving to their destination. We are more dependent on data than ever before. So, you can imagine how devastating it would be for someone to hold that data for ransom.
Ransomware is one of the most serious and prevalent threats to modern data. When fundamental operations are disrupted, businesses find their hands tied and their capabilities lost to customers. According to a recent report from Cyber Security Ventures, an organization fell victim to ransomware every 14 seconds in 2019, and it’s expected to be every 11 seconds in 2021. The ransom amount has increased too. In mid-2018, the average ransomware payment was $41,198. By late-2019, that price more than doubled to $84,166. If you haven’t been taking ransomware seriously, you should. What is ransomware? Ransomware is a maliciously-created malware that finds and encrypts an organization’s files and storage. Through entry points like phishing emails, users can unintentionally allow this attack into their organization.
Cybercriminals use this malware to extort money from the organization. Once data has been compromised, companies are given the option to pay a usually high ransom to unencrypt the data or rely on backup to restore. However, many ransomware attacks also seek out all production and backup files and documents. By encrypting those too, the attack leaves the organization no choice but to meet the cybercriminals’ demands.
