News
Three people arrested in ransomware swoop – Faronics comments
December 2012 by Faronics
The BBC has confirmed that the Police Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU) has arrested three people in Stoke-on-Trent this week following an investigation into a Ransomware scam.
Ransomware involves the use of a fake anti-virus which disables a computer’s functionality until the victim pays a requested sum of money. It comes shortly after an Australian medical centre saw thousands of patient records encrypted and held ransom by hackers who demanded 4,000 Australian dollars (£2,610) to release the data.
Bimal Parmar, VP of marketing at Faronics, said:
“This sort of scam is a clear indication of just how sophisticated – and malicious – cybercrime is becoming. Fake anti-virus isn’t necessarily a new thing, however ransomware goes that step further by essentially holding a computer hostage and opening a dialogue between PC users and cybercriminals trying to negotiate a fee. With such convincing social engineering tactics, and with employees being granted more online freedom at work, this will almost certainly become a problem for many businesses.
“A major concern is that as users become more aware of traditional cyber attack tactics such as spam and phishing, many believe that they know everything about identifying and avoiding them. Unfortunately, new scams such as this are emerging at a rapid pace, using different methods to blindside their victim and convince them that the attack is genuine. If they’re successful, it can have a hugely damaging financial impact.
“The first step to avoiding this is for users to realise that cyber attacks are not restricted to specific tactics. What we don’t want is for online activity to be limited by fear, especially when all it takes is a bit of common sense and a few security checks to mitigate the risk. Raising awareness and educating users on what to look out for is an essential precaution – however, as employees can often be easily manipulated, a solid endpoint security strategy involving layers of defence, is critical. Only by investing in multiple safety nets will an organisation have peace of mind should they become the target of such a sophisticated attack as this – after all, if just one workstation is held ransom, the entire enterprise is put at risk.”
