Ransomware becoming a problem for government and businesses

[Galdorf]

Every time you look at news now some state or province or hospital or business has been hit by ransomware the question is what anti-virus were they using i have yet to see residential users hit with it seems they all pay as well which does not help the problem.
My friends suppliers for gaming products got hit by ransomware all their computers are encrypted this seems to be getting out of hand i have heard my local hospital and collage got hit as well i think it my have gotten into system via phishing someone opening up an attachment they should have not clicked on.

I think they need new laws making this an act of war and sending the military after the hackers and they need to train employees not to open attachments and screen them as well with heuristic software.
They all don`t have any backups which is scary you would think they would but they don`t.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/20/us/riviera-beach-to-pay-hacker/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/10/politics/ransomware-attacks-us-cities/index.html

https://arstechnica.com/information...wo-cities-why-ransomware-will-just-get-worse/

 

[nerd2u]

What really needs to happen is IT needs to be given the budget it deserves.

Companies also need to invest in user training.

When it comes time to cut budget IT spending is almost always the first to go.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

 

[Galdorf]

What really needs to happen is IT needs to be given the budget it deserves.

Companies also need to invest in user training.

When it comes time to cut budget IT spending is almost always the first to go.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

You know when collage and hospital cut the IT budget they got hit by ransomware lol.

 

[GreyWolf]

You know when collage and hospital cut the IT budget they got hit by ransomware lol.

Probably from the IT staff

 

[phaZed]

I think they need new laws making this an act of war and sending the military after the hackers and they need to train employees not to open attachments and screen them as well with heuristic software.

A horrible idea. So, the Military(s) of the world create the vulnerabilities and tools... so that they can now offer the solution militarily? No thanks.

 

[mr m]

They all don`t have any backups which is scary you would think they would but they don`t.

For almost 45 years I have been dancing in the high tech arena. The first thing I learned back in the day was the importance of backing up data. The first thing I taught someone was the importance of backing up their data.

I don't care who you are, expert or technically challenged. Everyone has heard the news and knows to backup.

I do not feel sorry for these fools. If they are too obtuse to realize after all these years that secure backups are a top priority screw 'em. Pay the ransom, sucker.

 

[Markverhyden]

The way I see it if someone can see the building they'll have problems.

 

[Galdorf]

Has anyone noticed since ransomware showed up that insurance companies now have cyber insurance is this a coincidence i think not.

 

[GreyWolf]

Yup, that's like signing cheques to ward of double pneumonia.

I guess that you should read ALL the small print on that policy, and check for how much wiggle room room they have to not pay out. I would think that if you had sufficient processes in place to be able to show due diligence on your behalf, then your actual risk exposure would be minimal.

I once read the T&C for my internet banking - it states i should have a current OS, complete with updates and an AV program. They wouldn't specify which AV complied with their T&C - just in case...

Ya I find that one ironic as some bank atm machines (the ones in the mom and pop stores) are running windows 3.11...

 

[Sky-Knight]

Insurance for digital threats has been a thing for some time now. If there is a source of financial loss, someone is going to try to make money selling protection from that loss. Welcome to the world!

The thread topic made me giggle a bit though... "becoming a problem"... "becoming", because it's somehow not already a problem? Malware mitigation is new?!? Proper backups of critical information, and regular audits of work flows to verify data life cycles, and sufficient maintenance of all the equipment involved all of a sudden has to be done NOW because ransomware?

And the US's solution to this global threat is our military?

What's next? The news announcing water is wet?

 

[cypress]

The Rivera Beach one (the first link posted) is actually in my county. It's been pretty big here on the news.

 

[Galdorf]

Wow i have been looking at the amount of ransomware being paid out by insurance companies has skyrocketed this is horrible paying out ransomware should NEVER be an option LOL cheaper to pay out ransomware instead of backing up?!?!?!?!.

https://arstechnica.com/information...ies-are-fueling-a-rise-in-ransomware-attacks/

 

[Umbra]

Wow i have been looking at the amount of ransomware being paid out by insurance companies has skyrocketed this is horrible paying out ransomware should NEVER be an option LOL cheaper to pay out ransomware instead of backing up?!?!?!?!.

in some cases, backing up is useless, for example, if the attacker has a foot in the network via trojan dropper or other malware, he can re-ransom your machines at will.
Experienced attackers will compromise your system silently, wait few months then act at the opportune moment, so your backups will be infected already (unless you restore a backup made from a clean install).
Also some companies will bargain then pay to be sure the attacker won't attack them again.
Only safe solution is to have the right decrypter which, with some ransomware, may not be possible.

Imagine Ransomware as a mafia 'kidnapping' your system.

 

[PcTek9]

you know... i strongly believe that since kaspersky exposed the equation groups super trojan code, the technology that nsa bug uses is so advanced, that when (not if), bad actors and independents use that code to improve their ransomware, we will see systems infected in a way that is mind boggling.

 

[Galdorf]

all my suppliers and my friends suppliers have been hit by ransomware it was soo bad it took down their websites and phones also this week over 10 hospitals were hit as well as many cities in US.

Here is a map of attacks only in USA every 40 seconds, a business is targeted with a ransomware attack!

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1UE6Nko9iRG1tLci_AeqqsxzxGzs&ll=29.129952121703397,-89.56975750206973&z=4

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Has anyone noticed since ransomware showed up that insurance companies now have cyber insurance is this a coincidence i think not.

Cyberinsurance has been pretty big well before Ransomware got big. Oh I know, the first ransomware was 1989 (against hospitals). But it basically didn't go crazy widespread until 2014/2015.

Cyberinsurance has been around a long time...and its origins is not from ransomware, but from general data breaches of sensitive information such as PHI, credit cards, etc.

 

[MDD1963]

Every time you look at news now some state or province or hospital or business has been hit by ransomware the question is what anti-virus were they using i have yet to see residential users hit with it seems they all pay as well which does not help the problem.
My friends suppliers for gaming products got hit by ransomware all their computers are encrypted this seems to be getting out of hand i have heard my local hospital and collage got hit as well i think it my have gotten into system via phishing someone opening up an attachment they should have not clicked on.

I think they need new laws making this an act of war and sending the military after the hackers and they need to train employees not to open attachments and screen them as well with heuristic software.
They all don`t have any backups which is scary you would think they would but they don`t.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/20/us/riviera-beach-to-pay-hacker/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/10/politics/ransomware-attacks-us-cities/index.html

https://arstechnica.com/information...wo-cities-why-ransomware-will-just-get-worse/

I'd suspect many of the affected businesses/city govt organizations actually HAD backups, but, alas, connected backups...which were likely also encrypted...

If only they'd had Kaspersky, but, a great batch of products is now virtually ruined in the USA, treated as though it were a KGB/GRU spy-tool rivaling the NSA's best efforts!

 

[Galdorf]

I'd suspect many of the affected businesses/city govt organizations actually HAD backups, but, alas, connected backups...which were likely also encrypted...

If only they'd had Kaspersky, but, a great batch of products is now virtually ruined in the USA, treated as though it were a KGB/GRU spy-tool rivaling the NSA's best efforts!

One way of preventing backups from being encrypted is using controlled folder access only allowing the backup software access to its contents therefore it cannot be encrypted i have tested it on an old machine and it works great don't know why IT is not using it?.

 

[Phillip Manning]

I did have a home customer who found himself locked out of his personal files on his computer, so before calling us he plugged in his backup HDD to check that they still opened and got them encrypted as well.

I have not had the chance to use it yet, but if you have a customer with encryped files, I have found this website
https://www.nomoreransom.org/crypto-sheriff.php?lang=en

 

[Galdorf]

The shear amount of businesses and government being hit by ransomware is crazy you would think they would know enough to store data using controlled folder access some hospitals claimed they lost patient data there are ways to harden data backup guess IT don't care or don't have the training seems computer security firms should be going out there and offering services to these places.

https://arstechnica.com/information...s-networks-shut-down-as-result-of-ransomware/