Don’t let cyber criminals extort you for your own data
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Back in June, it was announced that the University of Calgary paid hackers $20,000 to regain access to its e-mail system. A type of malware called ‘ransomware’ cut off access to the University’s system and kept the data hostage until a payment was made. The hackers knew that the University could not afford to lose this poorly-protected data, making it the perfect target for extortion. For many in Canada, this was the first time they were exposed to the reality of ransomware.
While many types of anti-virus software can guard computers against this malware, the best way to protect data is to store it property on secure servers and encrypt it with the best technology possible. This, as it happens, is exactly what Evizone offers.
Yet the growing popularity of ransomware is still staggering. Cyber criminals are realizing that it’s much easier to get people to pay for their own data than to try to sell data to third-party criminals. When it comes to ransomware, it doesn’t matter what data is stolen – all that matters is that it’s worth a lot of money.
And these hackers make a lot of money.
The FBI believes that more than $209 million was extorted in the first three months of 2016 alone, compared to only $25 million in all of 2015, according to a Globe and Mail article.
A survey of 540 international firms conducted this summer by Osterman Research on behalf of anti-ransomware provider Malwarebytes found that nearly 40 per cent had paid ransomware in the previous year.
About 37 per cent of ransom demands fell between $1,000 and $10,000, and 25 per cent exceeded $10,000. Canadian managers apparently felt the most confident about countering ransomware; but once infected, Canadian firms were three times more likely to pay the ransom.
The rate of ransomware attacks is growing exponentially and targeting those who need it the least. Don’t become a victim of the latest trend in cyber criminality. Protect yourself with military-grade technology instead.
About Evizone Ltd.
Evizone Ltd. is a revolutionary secure communications, encryption and compliance software and service provider based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Evizone offers innovative enterprise solutions in secure messaging (next generation beyond encrypted e mail) and encryption, encryption at rest, regulatory compliance, compliance archiving, WORM compliance, 17a-4 compliance, document life cycle management and communications governance and risk management. Evizone’s services protect organizations through best in class security, encryption, recipient controls, document life cycle management, discovery management, compliance management, compliance archiving, tamper proof WORM and 17a-4 compliance archiving and complete audit records against the enormous damage caused by communications breaches. Evizone’s patented technologies offer a level of security impossible to obtain with conventional or encrypted email and fast, powerful, user friendly compliance archiving. Evizone’s services are immediately available on multiple platforms and provide the strongest commercially available communications security and compliance archiving. You can follow Evizone on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Contact:
Tom Kott, HATLEY Strategy Advisors, 514.316.7082, tkott@hatleystrategies.com