What is Ransomware?
Ransomware is malware that infects computers and networks, encrypting data and locking its usage until a ransom is paid to unlock it. Ransomware encrypts files fast – real fast. A VPN can’t stop viruses and ransomware can spread easily and swiftly through a network. To make matters worse, threat actors are becoming more sophisticated and demanding heftier sums to unlock encrypted data. According to Harvard Business Review, the amount companies paid to hackers grew by 300 percent in 2020 — with ransomware demand amounts getting increasingly larger.
Just Say No
One of the organizations that did not pay a ransom is Spectra Logic. In May 2020, Spectra Logic was attacked as COVID dominated the headlines and employees suddenly worked remotely. The move to virtual work led to countless opportunistic ransomware attacks, including the one that hit Spectra Logic, where cybercriminals took advantage of pandemic circumstances with clever phishing schemes in an effort to extort money and harm organizations.
In the end, Spectra Logic refused to pay the $3.6 million in cryptocurrency and learned a thing or two in the process about how to protect against a malicious attack. We’ve spoken publicly about the attack to help other organizations fortify their defenses. And we’ve put together a number of resources to enable businesses to reduce the impact of a crippling ransomware attack. We hope you find these assets useful.
- Are you prepared for an attack? We can rank your ransomware preparedness based on this short quiz.
- Read How Spectra Overcame a Ransomware Attack
- Watch the webinar: When Ransomware Hits
- Read the Spectra Ransomware story in the Boulder Daily Camera newspaper
Ransomware attacks will continue to be a major threat to organizations. If you would like to meet with one of Spectra’s Data Protection Experts, send us an email at [email protected]. We’d love to help you out.
