Companies worldwide are being targeted with ransomware by professional hacking teams. Beware that over the last 5 years the damages to companies were increasing from approx. 325M $ in 2015 to an expected 20B $ in 2021.
Over the last 18 months there were until now some cases in the laundry industry where ICT infrastructure was compromised by malware bringing the daily operations at risk.
Commonly the following approach is followed:
- A hacker compromises an end-user workstation, often starts from spam or targeted emails
- Gathers credentials to access other workstations & servers (Credential Theft)
- Destroys backups / de-activates backup system
- Copying valuable data
- Encrypts or hostage server infrastructure and as much workstations as possible
- A “request” for a large ransom amount to decrypt data and release systems
In case it happens to your organization: To overcome malware infections, it is very important that there is a recovery plan in place. You must be sure that you can rely on your backup solution & standby systems when needed. Your backups should be resilient for ransomware attacks and tested on a regular frequency.
There is not an overall or one-step solution to avoid ransomware attacks. ICT infrastructure and operating systems should be kept up to date, periodically patched and hardened against Credential Theft. Recommended industry best practice security products must be implemented, and active monitoring should be in place.
ABS technicians are ready to advise and support you when required.
