Understanding Ransomware and the Threats It Poses for Businesses

Ransomware is a type of malware that covertly installs itself on your computer, without your express knowledge or consent. It encrypts or takes control of the data on that device in an attempt to hold the files and information as hostage, until and unless you agree to pay a certain amount of money in exchange for the decryption of those files. Ransomware may lock your system in a way that you may lose the ability to unlock it unless the attacker’s demands are met.

In recent times, Ransomware has become more and more popular with attacks, such as CryptoLocker and Fusob, which have cost billions of dollars to companies by means of extortion. Some of the most common threats this type of malware poses to business, in general, can be summarized below:

• Ransomware has become a big business for attackers that have cost more than $1 billion to companies only in the previous year. This has resulted in huge monetary losses for these organizations all over the world and has enforced management to invest in better security infrastructure to avoid related future incidents.
• Financial loss is not the only reason why businesses have undergone such ordeals because of this threat. As the Ransomware encrypts your files and valuable information, your confidentiality is compromised and this affects the integrity of your business. For many companies, this poses a greater threat as compared to other monetary losses.
• It damages the reputation of your business. Once you have gone through an attack and your data is stolen or compromised, you lose the credibility of your stakeholders that may well include your customers, investors or public in general.

Given the significance of this threat, it is essential you safeguard your business interests by keeping vigilant and spread awareness to avoid any unforeseen circumstances.