‘Ransomware’ perils explained
Howard Solomon has received messages from banks he doesn’t even do business with, claiming his account is in jeopardy. He’s received similar threats from companies that say if he doesn’t click now he will lose his emails.
The Boynton Beach resident knows not to fall for the bait, and at a Greater Boynton Beach Chamber of Commerce event Wednesday he found out more about what those messages likely are: Ransomware. “It’s scary,” Solomon said. James Northcutt, a sales manager with Delray Beachbased Net One Technologies, spoke to about a dozen residents and business owners at a chamber Lunch and Learn session, and gave out tips on how to protect yourself.
Ransomware is malware that infects a computer. The hacker holds the victim’s data hostage and demands money. Last year, about 50 percent of national businesses were attacked, and about 40 percent globally. And, only about one in four attacks are reported to law Alexandra Seltzer enforcement, Northcutt said. About 50 percent of victims pay the ransom.
The first time the term ransomware really became known to the public was in 2013 when Target was hit, Northcutt said. About 40 million credit card numbers were stolen and about 70 million personal records, he said.
Other high-profile hacks were at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, the American Dental Association and the San Francisco train system.
Cyberattacks happen when someone clicks on an infected website link — a tactic known as “phishing” — when an email appears to come from a trusted sender with a link inside but is actually a scam.
The latter happened to Audra Wilson, a Delray Beach resident. But she knew not to click anything.
She got an email from someone in the Palm Beach County School District last week. The email contained a link to a Google Docs account without any writing or message. Wilson received the email from one of her clients, a trusted source.
“But I also received it from a random person, so I knew it had to be a virus,” she said.
The district was a victim of ransomware last year, and warned employees to be careful opening email attachments. Also last year, the town of Palm Beach fell victim to ransomware twice in two weeks.
Northcutt recommends raising awareness about the threat to employees, having multiple layers of security, being careful with what you click on and having data backed up. If you do get attacked, call the police and Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Northcutt said ransomware attacks are only going to grow. He expects 2017 to be the year the public sees a ransomworm — where if your computer is attacked, the hacker can get into every other computer on your network — and even a civilian death caused by ransomware.
Said Wilson: “So it’s not an if, but when. When it happens.”