Ransomware and malware attacks are not exactly top of mind for many small businesses. Considering the deleterious impact presented by an ever-evolving host of cyber threats, enterprises of all sizes should be eager to correct any vulnerabilities within their networks, according to industry experts interviewed by Crain's.
Ransomware is the software behind cyber extortion, an internet crime where company data or devices are quite literally held for ransom. Small businesses with fewer security measures in place are a tasty target — those affected may find their files inaccessible until they provide a hefty payoff.
"These attacks are very straightforward, because cyber criminals found out that businesses will pay large sums of money to get their information back," said Randy Pargman, vice president of threat hunting and counterintelligence at Binary Defense, a Stow business that specializes in the field. "As word of ransomware spreads throughout the criminal underworld, attackers have focused more of their energy in this area."
Ransomware is typically activated when someone clicks a link in a phishing email or downloads a corrupted email attachment. Malware can also sneak through security holes in unprotected networks — unsupported versions of Microsoft Windows are particularly vulnerable to ransomware hacks.
Invaders accessing a network will steal sensitive materials — files, IP addresses, emails and more — encrypting the data so it can't be used without a decryption key. Hackers will then demand a ransom payment for a copy of the key, sometimes insisting on an additional sum to not publish the data publicly.
Though computer viruses are always changing, older versions of ransomware can infect a system with just a few tweaks to the code. Nor are smaller companies invisible to online wrongdoers — if anything, they're viewed by criminals as targets of opportunity.
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