![]() ![]() Back up your data regularly (from an end user’s perspective, this is the easiest way out).To protect against ransomware, now is the perfect time for organizations to remind themselves of some basic best practices: Evernote also battled a DDoS attack that disrupted operations, although it is unclear in this case whether the attackers also demanded payment.Īlthough these particular examples of cyber extortion are against larger-scale targets, it’s worth noting that the tactic can also be directed at smaller, personal targets - no one is really immune.It refused to respond to a demand for payment. Move Inc., an online real estate services provider, battled DDoS attacks that disrupted its website operations.News aggregator Feedly was the victim of a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack in which the attackers demanded payment to make it stop.Unfortunately, there are also ample public disclosures related to cyber extortion: Related: Ransomware Report: Top Security Threat Expected to Continue Rising in 2017 The dynamics of extortion are not difficult to understand, either: I cause (or threaten to cause) you harm, and you pay me to stop. In practical terms, it shows that we should also be aware of another ancient and effective exploit: extortion, which is the crime of taking money (or something else of value) from another party by use of threat or force. It seems that cyber criminals continue to move faster than the tech industry’s ability to create new jargon to describe it. Note that, technically, this last example is not ransomware (a type of malicious software), but rather a demand for ransom for compromised customer data. The hackers responsible demanded a ransom of 30,000 euros in exchange for not disclosing the information publicly. Domino’s Pizza in France and Belgium, where the personal information (including favorite pizza toppings) of about 650,000 customers was compromised.Edwards, which exposed data related to some 430 New Hampshire residents from a ransomware called CryptoWall. Brokerage and investment advisory firm Benjamin F.The town of Greenland, New Hampshire, which lost eight years’ worth of data when it fell victim to a ransomware known as CryptoLocker.Some recent public disclosures involving demands for ransom include: ![]() ![]() Although ransomware initially targeted PCs, it is now migrating to mobile platforms as well. Ransomware, one of the fastest-growing areas of cyber crime, refers to malicious software that is specifically designed to take control of a computer system or its data and hold it hostage so the attackers can demand payment from their victims. Today, criminals are applying these ancient approaches to modern technologies. The dynamics of ransom are not difficult to understand: I take something dear to you, and you pay me to give it back. The amount demanded was so large that it took over a year for England to raise it, giving root to the now-familiar idiom “a king’s ransom.” In 1932, the 20-month-old son of famous aviator Charles Lindbergh was kidnapped and held for ransom in one of the most high-profile cases in the history of the FBI. Ransom, which refers to some kind of payment that is demanded in exchange for the release of someone or something that has been taken, is a simple yet effective ploy that has been used by criminals for thousands of years.įor example, on his way home from the Third Crusade in 1192, King Richard the Lionheart was captured and held for ransom by Duke Leopold of Austria. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |