Page 49 - Cyber Warnings

situation where in the victim will be forced to pay ransom even to get out of/ in the office/ house
or use machines.

What can we do to ensure protection from ransomware?

It is always better to take precautions and protect systems than becoming a victim in the first
place. Here are few suggestions:

 The first and foremost step is to ensure installation of an authenticated anti-virus
software.
 Ensure regular backup of system data.
 Check twice before downloading an attachment as it may carry ransomware.
 Enable popup blocker to avoid accidently clicking on infected popup advertisement.
 Ensure that you are accessing trusted websites.

In case someone is affected by ransomware the first thing to do is to disconnect the internet as
soon as possible to avoid transaction of your system data to the criminals. By doing this one can
always use backup data for resorting the system.

In a study conducted by security solutions provider Bitdefender it was discovered that 4 in 10
ransomware victims pay ransom to recover data. This is not considered a good decision by
experts as they suggest that informing authorities about the attack is always better option than
paying ransom. Paying ransom may encourage criminals which may lead to victims being
subjected to similar attack for extorting large amount next time.

Stay vigilant

According to a report from Intel Corp.’s McAfee Labs, with the upcoming new cloud-based
variants of ransomware i.e. “ransomware-as-a-service”, ransomware will remain a major and
rapidly growing threat in 2016. Individuals as well as organizations should be ready for dealing
with such attacks with proper security implementations. Further they should also educate and
update themselves regarding latest cybercrimes and stay vigilant and don’t let hackers win and
control their lives.

About the Author

Prerna Lal is a Lecturer in Information Management at International Management Institute, New
Delhi and a published writer in journals and publications, both Indian and international. She is
an engineer with an MBA degree (IIT-Roorkee). She is a SAP-certified consultant (HCM) and
has ITIL® V3 Foundation-level certificate in IT Service Management as well as Diploma in
Cyber Law. She has 14 years of experience in academics and research with areas of interest
being Data Warehousing and Data Mining, Business Analytics, Cyber Law, Management
Information System, Software Project Management, IT Service Management, and Cloud
Computing. She can be contact at [email protected].

49 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – March 2016 Edition
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