WOW, we had a week of gas vanishing. In some locations, it is still not available as it was the week before. Why? Well, unless you do not listen to any news, it was because of a ransomware attack supposedly perpetrated by Russia hackers named DarkSide. This attack was on Colonial Pipeline, that controls a sizeable portion of fuel delivery to the eastern part of our country.
CNBC reported recently that three new companies will be, are being, or have already been attacked. They stated, “One of the companies is based in the United States, one is in Brazil and the third is in Scotland. None of them appear to engage in critical infrastructure.”
Here is a simple overview of ransomware.
The bad guys work their way into company or individuals’ networks and computers. They then go in and lock up files in the computer system. This keeps the victim from having access to the files. It could also lock up operational files. This would stop the company from being able to carry on normal operations. They steal some informational files and data from the victim. If the victim wants to have control back of their files or have them unlocked, they must pay. Colonial was said to have paid around five million dollars to have their data released and get us our gas. DarkSide has stated online that they always donate some of their money to charities around the world to help society. Isn’t that nice?
Usually when it is an individual attacked, the fee to get your information freed is $600 to $1000. There was a company that I was involved with here in the valley that was hit by ransomware. This was probably 10 years ago. The attack came in on one person’s computer and locked down several folders of significant financial files that temporarily crippled the company. The hackers thought it was an individual and did not know it was a good sized company. So, they charged $600 to restore the files back to normal, which was paid to the hackers online, in untraceable Bitcoin. All was well. But if the nefarious group had known it was a company and not an individual, the ransom would have been much higher.
These people are good at what they do. So far, no one understands how to stop them. What can you do to protect your personal data from them? The first two steps are to make sure your operating system is up to date. Check your Windows updates and make sure they are current. The other, make sure you are running antivirus software and that it is also updated regularly. These should both happen automatically, but it is worth double checking.
Next, be careful with your email. DO NOT CLICK LINKS in emails unless you know someone is sending you something to click. If you know I was going to send a link with some files for you or pictures, etc. You can figure it is ok to click links in email from me. If you have not heard from me in a good while and I send you an emailed link, do not click it.
Even though I have seen companies do it in recent times, do not click links from your bank or any other company. If they want you to see something, type their company URL into your browser and find it. Do not click the link in the email.
Do not download everything you see online from sources you do not know. It could be a ransomware trap. Stick with reputable companies and sites or you could get ransomed.
