Ransomware Viruses

Ransomware viruses are one of the clearest ways for hackers to commercialize their efforts. Like pay-per-click campaigns, ransomware costs would-be victims relatively nothing, unlike those costs associated with the loss of data.Likewise, it's easy for hackers to spread their malware and hold data hostage, as evidenced by a massive digital extortion campaign that took down the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center for several days in late 2014.Ransomware is often delivered in the form of an innocuous-looking e-mail that purports to be from a colleague. As one study recently noted, the victims were actually at great risk because in many cases, their infection is attributed to an internal error, "suggesting that the entire enterprise was not able to stop the software code that allowed the hackers to spread the malware. In an era of data breaches and successful data breaches, this type of infection remains all too common."The major financial institutions and governments are likely to feel the weight of this new form of attack, as well. We've already seen warnings from data security experts that if your institution doesn't "have patches on the servers, it's not safe."In a similar vein, the same researchers have identified some alarming parallels with another attack — the theft of global banking system customer data by hackers from Bangladesh's central bank. In that incident, some of the banking data was made public and could be downloaded from the server of Bangladesh's Federal Bank, forcing them to shut down their ATM network for several hours.So just when it seemed the flood gates had been closed on so-called "nation-state hacking," here comes ransomware to the breach door.

There is little doubt that ransomware is a highly effective cyber-weapon. With just a few words on a computer screen, hackers can wreak havoc on systems with software that encrypts files and freezes data or telephones systems to demand a "ransom" in exchange for the key needed to unlock it. As many noted during this most recent spate of hacking attempts, the criminals behind ransomware are usually motivated by either financial gain or to make a political statement.

"People are somewhat powerless to stop the ransomware," said Gary Davis, chief consumer security evangelist at McAfee, a security technology company. "They are not getting the services they need. They are under a lot of pressure."This isn't going to make people feel very good. But even if a company is hit with a ransom demand, there is little the company can do about it.

"There is no good guy with a red cape and mask and ball and chain that you can pay money to to recover your files," Davis said. "The attackers control the ecosystem — the currency, the drivers."
With so little the victim can do to prevent their files from being locked or their systems from becoming locked in this way, it's no surprise that ransomware attacks continue to surge.