Huntress Says Security Awareness Training Can Help Prevent Ransomware
Summary
The article argues that employee awareness training can help reduce ransomware risk, offering advice on suspicious emails and websites and outlining backup, payment, decryption, and reimaging options after an attack.
Key points
- The article recommends training employees to recognize ransomware risks and avoid suspicious email links, attachments, and malicious websites.
- It argues that employee awareness should complement security appliances, spam gateways, network monitoring, and antivirus tools.
- It cites an informal survey of 100 people in which 80% reportedly did not know or understand the term ransomware.
- It recommends testing backups regularly so an organization can restore files after an attack.
- It cautions that paying a ransom may not restore access and may leave an organization at risk of another attack.
- The article says decryption tools may sometimes be available, including through the No More Ransom project, and lists reimaging as a last resort.
Article Details
- Topic
- Security awareness training as a way to prevent ransomware and employee guidance for responding to ransomware incidents.
People
Malware
AIDS TrojanLet’s start with a little history about ransomware. The AIDS Trojan, released in 1989 by a Harvard PhD, Dr. Joseph L. Popp, was the first known piece of ransomware. It replaced the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, which was checkedWannaCryUnless you have been living under a rock for the past month, it is hard not to notice all of the news about the WannaCry ransomware attack.