Business owners are being advised to remain vigilant against ransomware attacks after a small corporation in London was hit with the menacing computer software.
London police were called to investigate the ransomware attack at an unnamed business in the city last weekend. The incident has now prompted police to issue the reminder to businesses of all sizes.
“The criminals behind these attacks don’t care how big or small your company may be. They only care about getting as much money as they can from you,” head of the police digital forensic unit Detective Jason Eddy said in a statement.
Hackers infect their victims' computers with malware that encrypts data, leaving files unaccessible to their rightful owner. The hackers then demand payment, usually in Bitcoins, to unlock or restore the files. In some cases, malware can be activated when a victim clicks on a phishing email.
To protect against such attacks, police recommend using complex passwords, backing up all important files on an external drive, keeping software up-to-date, running regular anti-virus software updates, and training employees on how to identify phishing emails.
“We know that only a small number of these attacks are reported to police so it is difficult to understand the full scope of the issue here in London,” said Eddy. “But we do know that people need to be proactive in protecting their files and in learning how to spot attack attempts.”
More tips on how to recognize phishing attempts can be found on the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website.
In late September the City of Woodstock and its police service were hit by a cyber attack that locked up its network and email systems. The City of Stratford had to pay the equivalent of $75,000 in Bitcoin to get its data back after a ransomware attack in April.
