How to avoid paying ransom
Do you know someone who ran out of gas at the gas station recently? Chances are that they were affected by the Colonial Pipeline ransomware hack, which caused a 6-day pipeline shutdown.
If you’ve never had to deal with ransomware (lucky you!) and are not quite sure what it is, ransomware is a kind of software. You either get tricked to install it on your machine, or a hacker will find a vulnerability and install it for you. The typical outcome is that every bit of information on your computer gets encrypted. Then, the message with instructions on how to buy Bitcoin and where to send it, appears.
At that moment, you have two choices - buy Bitcoin and follow the instructions and hope that you get the key to decrypt your information. Alternatively, you can cut your losses and start from scratch. Of course, there is the third option: use your plan for how to act in situations like this, called the Cybersecurity Response Plan.
There is this myth that buying the latest and greatest and the most expensive technology will save you from situations like this. Simply put it - not true. As with anything, doing basic things like system patching, having antivirus protection up to date, network & system monitoring (not from Solar Wind, that is) and proper backup will cover 80% of your problems.
I am sure that the technical reader of this newsletter would suggest much more - and I will agree with them. However, there is a reality out there where individuals and smaller firms just don't have the resources to buy and operate some of these solutions that could protect them.
That's why it is essential to have a Cybersecurity Response Plan. The business and technical people need to come together; to collaboratively create it.
In the process, the business people will learn about various forms of attack (ransomware being one of them). Meanwhile, the technical people will learn that not everything requires an equal level of protection.
Going through the exercise helps uncover the gaps in security. The most important outcome is that the whole organization learns how to spot a possible problem and how to act on it. Cybersecurity resilience is 50% technology and 50% people.
The Colonial Pipeline hack is not a new problem, but humans have a tendency to forget bad things. I’ve written about this topic before:
This problem will be with us for as long as we use computers. I know you’re not going to be able to develop an entire Cybersecurity Response Plan this afternoon - so, what can you do to protect yourself and your business data, right now?
Do me a favor. After reading this newsletter, run a backup of your machine. Make this a habit - or if you like, a recurrent pattern. Otherwise you may be unlucky and wind up buying Bitcoin, not for investing, but to make other people rich.