The SME threat Ransomware

Companies are currently increasingly struggling with attacks through encryption software and subsequent digital extortion. For example, research conducted by Kaspersky Lab shows that crypto-ransomware attacks on enterprise customers worldwide have increased six-fold in one year - from 27,000 (from April 2014 to March 2015) to 158,000 (from April 2015 to March 2016). In the period March 2015 to April 2016, one in ten encryption malware attacks targeted enterprise users.

A survey by the provider shows that medium-sized businesses in particular see ransomware as an acute threat. According to the survey, 42.3% of the companies surveyed and a quarter (26.5%) of small businesses (up to 49 employees) see crypto-ransomware as one of the biggest cyber threats.

Just how targeted ransomware currently is is illustrated by a recently published analysis by Kaspersky of the "Cerber" malware, which used very authentic-looking, German-language application emails to target German users.

SME security measures

"Ransomware attacks can occur via the Internet, email, software vulnerabilities or USB devices. Companies prevent infection by making employees aware of possible entry points for ransomware: they should not open unknown email attachments, avoid suspicious websites and do not connect USB devices to unsecured computers," says Konstantin Voronkov.

As a matter of principle, companies should never respond to digital ransomware demands, but instead involve the relevant law enforcement authorities.

Kaspersky Lab also offers on the page https://noransom.kaspersky.com/ offers free decryption programs for various ransomware malware.

In terms of technical prevention, regular backups of the most important data are mandatory - and on an external server or hard drive that is not connected to the corporate network. Ideally, an additional cloud backup should be performed. For this, however, companies should turn to a reliable provider.

Source: Kaspersky Lab