Capture

By Katie LaPorte

Ransomware Encryption is not new. We’ve reported on this on many occasions, and it’s happening more and more every day. It is difficult for professionals in our industry to define a more detrimental threat to any business regardless of your industry.

Encryption is costly. What are those costs?

Ransom fees.

There is no set cost for a ransom – it’s whatever the cyber-criminal demands. They may negotiate, but that is not always the case. The cost to receive the un-encryption key can devastate a business.

Downtime.

Depending on the scope of your infrastructure and data quantity, you can anticipate days or even weeks before you’re back to business as usual – and that’s if you are able to successfully un-encrypt. On average 42% of businesses are successful in total recovery.

Because of this, lost revenue during the time of your encryption recovery can be substantial. Whether you’re missing new opportunities with new customers or putting your existing clientele on hold, total losses of revenue are incalculable.

How does it happen?

Cyber criminals will use any weakness they can find to extort you.

  1. Email Spoofing. Attachments on emails or links are a common source for encryption methods.
  2. Security Holes: Gateways to your network from the outside world, lack of multi-factor authentication protocols, and weak user login credentials are all absolute gems for a cyber-criminal.

What can you do to protect yourself?

  1. Take it seriously. Encryption is not rare; it is incredibly common.
  2. Know your vulnerabilities. Unsecured access to your network? Lax password policies? A poorly educated staff? No firewall? There are a lot of angles where your security may be weak. Find out what they are.
  3. Do something about them. Knowing is half the battle. Fixing the problems helps you win the war.

Contact us through support@azbs.com, or call 312-474-9400. We’ll help you prevent the threats before they impact you.