Much like watching a cyber-thriller unfold.
The Health Service Executive of Ireland was hit by a severe ransomware onslaught on May 14, 2021, resulting in the shutdown of its IT systems across the country. It was the greatest known cybercrime attack on a healthcare computer system and a significant cybercrime strike on an Irish government body.
This event is not the only major ransom attack of its kind; many others preceded and succeeded it. However, there's not much known about this kind of business threat.
Ransomware is malicious software that encrypts data and prevents users from accessing it. Hackers seek a ransom payment in exchange for regaining access – usually in cryptocurrency.
You may be interested to know that there are many different kinds of ransomware attack methods. Here are some of them:
1. Malicious Email Attachments
These are created by attaching a conspicuous file, such as a Word document, a.JS file, or a portable executable (PE) file, to an email from a convincing source, such as Human Resources or IT. The recipient opens the attachment, believing it came from a reliable source. The ransomware payload is unwittingly downloaded, the machine is infected, and the contents are held for ransom once the file is opened.
2. Malicious Email Links
Just like with email attachments, these URLs are in the email body. Similarly, these emails come from someone or an organization you consider a reliable source. When these URLs are clicked, malicious files are downloaded via the internet. After that, the system is infected, and the files are held for ransom.
3. Exploit Kits
These are sophisticated toolkits that are used to exploit security flaws. Exploit kits are usually launched when a victim visits a hacked website. Sometimes buried in an advertisement (malvertisement), a malicious code unwittingly takes you to the exploit kit landing page. If the system is vulnerable, a drive-by download of a malicious payload will be conducted, infecting the system and encrypting the contents.
You must know how your business can be attacked. Did you know that the outage brought about by the attack on the Health Service Executive of Ireland wreaked absolute chaos, making it hard for the organization to recover?
You don't want this happening on your turf. You need strong cyber support to protect your organization from these harmful attacks.
Identifying and quantifying your cyber security assets enables your proactive response and recovery planning. Are you current tool capable of handling a coordinated effort between business continuity, cyber security, IT and business operation teams ?
BCM next can step in. We can help you establish a fine line between a company that struggles to recover from threats and a company with a stronghold on cyber intelligence.
Allow BCM next to be part of your business continuity efforts to fight against ransomware attacks.
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