On April 2, the Board of Commissioners from Genesee County, Michigan reported a ransomware attack on their network. Their initial announcement stated that the attack “held hostage” files and demanded payment for their release. The county IT Department was able to isolate the attack and prevent further encryption, but operations and normal business stalled. They expected to restore some of their systems by April 3.
Unfortunately, the ransomware attack was more severe than originally thought. While the department restored their email services on April 6, the ransomware still affected other operations. The county reported a setback in reestablishing operations “due to the aggressiveness of the attack.” They have not released any further updates at the time of writing.
Although the county has not been able to resume normal operations, their data is apparently safe. According to a statement from the county’s board and capital projects coordinator, an assessment showed that the attack only locked their files; it did not steal any data.
Ransomware can affect organizations of different sizes, and most attackers won’t choose their targets. The Trend Micro annual security report shows that although detections for overall ransomware-related threats dropped, ransomware is still prevalent in the cybersecurity landscape. Attackers will take any opportunity to make a profit, and the possible profit from a successful ransomware attack outweighs the effort needed to launch it. Just last month, major manufacturing companies were seriously affected by the ransomware LockerGoga. The costly attack hindered operations and production across several plants.
Organizations need layered and efficient security to defend against ransomware. Here are some of the best practices that organizations should follow:
Trend Micro XGen™ security provides a cross-generational blend of threat defense techniques against a full range of threats for data centers , cloud environments , networks , and endpoints . It infuses high-fidelity machine learning with other detection technologies and global threat intelligence for comprehensive protection against advanced malware. Smart, optimized, and connected, XGen™ powers Trend Micro’s suite of security solutions: Hybrid Cloud Security, User Protection, and Network Defense.
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In the first half of this year, cybersecurity strongholds were surrounded by cybercriminals waiting to pounce at the sight of even the slightest crack in defenses to ravage valuable assets. View the report
The upheavals of 2020 challenged the limits of organizations and users, and provided openings for malicious actors. A robust cybersecurity posture can help equip enterprises and individuals amid a continuously changing threat landscape. View the 2020 Annual Cybersecurity Report
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