A new study found that just under two-thirds of universities within the United Kingdom have experienced ransomware attacks…
The study, conducted by SentinelOne, found that 63% of U.K. universities have been the victim of ransomware attacks. There was also additional evidence that many of the universities were hit with ransomware on multiple different occasions. Unfortunately, the tactics the cyber criminals use is a mass distribution approach with the hope that at least one person will fall for it. This approach is not uncommon.
This approach is believed to be used in most ransomware attacks, as it has been proved to be the most effective. Statistically thinking, the more people you distribute to, the higher the likelihood someone will click on your malicious link. So the criminal thinking behind this disbursement method makes sense; however it causes havoc of PC users because we are constantly having to second guess everything we click on. Or at least we should be.
This study is evidence of the ransomware epidemic, that no one is immune, and just because you’ve been hit once, doesn’t mean it won’t happen again. This is precisely why, when people or institutions are hit with ransomware, they need to following the following steps:
- First and foremost, don’t pay. Paying the ransom demands only fuels the fire to this ransomware epidemic.
- Contact the authorities at both a local and federal level.
- Notify your current security software program so the ransomware can be added to the blacklist. This will prevent further infections of this same ransomware to anyone who is using a security software that uses a blacklist approach.
- Reevaluate your security software protection. The reality is, it has just failed you. You need to find a better security software that implements application whitelisting technology. This technology only allows safe programs to run and blocks all unwanted, unknown, and unsafe programs from executing.
