2 minute read
Cyber Crime The Next Pandemic?
from August 2021
Gò0dNews from the IT Desk
Cyber Crime: The Next Pandemic?
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by Todd Looper
“Iranian hacking group Agrius pretends to encrypt files for a ransom, destroys them instead”—ZDNet, May 2021
“Colonial Pipeline hit with $5 million Ransomware”— various, April 2021
“Dixie Group hit with Ransomware”—various, April 2021
“Kia Motors Reportedly Told to Pay Up in Latest Ransomware Attack, DoppelPaymer is demanding 404 bitcoins worth approximately $20 million”— ZDNet, February 2021
You have seen the headlines just since 2021 began. After the craziest year (2020) in generations, and after all of humanity begged for calmness and sanity, now we get this—Cyber Crime on steroids! You are correct in thinking that this is not new, it is not new at all, but what has changed is the acceleration at which these cyber criminals are ramping up their twisted demands and skills.
Over the years, it seems that these bad seeds are getting more brazen and frankly, they sometimes believe they are noble and just! Take the Colonial Pipeline incident this spring, Dark Side is the group claiming responsibility (though it is difficult to really prove), and these clowns claim to have a mantra of stealing money from organizations that do not help the poor—actually stating that they donate their bounty to needy groups. Nuts! I mean really nuts. Apparently, this group has been “made” and shut down by Interpol and others so we will see. The FBI generally does not get involved with these crimes unless the demand is $1 million or more.
Local PD and the like really have no idea how to help you if you are attacked. These criminals know this and we have seen their ransom demands drop down below the million-dollar threshold—even down as low as $3,000$4,000—so you will just be quiet and pay. By the way, never pay the ransom! If you pay up then your organization has done nothing to stop the attack from happening again. These guys find the weaknesses in your IT setup and hit you like a yellowjacket, over and over again. Firms like mine can help you walk through the steps necessary to end the nightmare of these events and also avoid them totally—so call the experts first.
As an IT professional, I get asked all the time, “Todd, what can we do?” There are a few basic steps that are absolutely critical to maintaining the best stance against
these villains and their cyber-attacks. One, get up to date hardware and software. Two, find a strong antivirus that is monitored and updated. Three, backup your data in the Cloud (one of my very favorite sayings is: “Jesus saves and so should you”). Remember the Could is just someone else’s computer in a far away place so only you can find it. Backing up on thumb drives or some cheapo outfit is the best way to be very disappointed down the road.
Reach out to me or another IT pro so that you can get ahead of this crimeware and what I believe is the next pandemic that will linger much more than a year!
Sources: Eset.com, Zdnet.com, and Usatoday.com
About The Author Todd Looper is the director of business development at InventureIT in Dalton, Georgia. He can be reached at 706-529-4638 or todd.looper@inventureIT.com
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