What Is Ransomware? Pay Attention to These Vulnerabilities That Penetrate Your Device!

You may have heard before about the ransomware virus, whether in your work or through the news circulating through news sites and social media, or even your device told you some measures to protect it from this virus.

If you want to know what ransomware is, its types, how it infects a device, and how to protect it, then this is your right place, follow us in this article, we will discuss everything related to ransomware.

What is a ransomware virus?

Ransomware is known as ransomware or ransomware, and it is a type of malware that, once it infects your device, encrypts all data and prevents you from accessing it, and a message appears explaining how to pay the ransom in exchange for decrypting files and giving access to your files. one more time.

A ransomware attack is targeting an individual or organization, it is not limited to one thing, and it can spread to computers through attachments or links in phishing emails, or via infected websites by downloading from the drive or via infected USB drives.

Therefore, ransomware includes two types of software, one for encryption and the other for blocking, where the first type encrypts your device's data with all of its files, images, etc., and it is difficult to use these files without decryption, which is done in exchange for the ransom, and the second type They are blocking programs that prevent access to the infected device in the first place and paralyze the entire system.

The history of the ransomware virus dates back to the late eighties of the last century, it is not a modern virus, and at that time a ransom was sent via regular mail, but today financial transactions are carried out via credit cards or digital currencies, and the ransom is usually between hundreds of dollars to thousands.

How does ransomware infect a device?

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There is more than one way to infect your device with the ransom virus, but one of the most used methods currently is e-mail messages that carry the virus file, known as Malspam, and it may contain several forms of media or files in PDF, word or another format, and it can also include links to the site It downloads the file as soon as it is opened.

This type of virus appears with messages known as social engineering to be able to deceive the recipient of the message, in addition to being included in the professional formulation and careful design to increase the likelihood of deceiving the recipient.

There is also a new method that spread in 2016 known as Malvertising, and the danger of this method lies in the trick that you enter on the user, as it relies on pop-up ads spread on the Internet, which open itself automatically on some sites, without any user intervention, Once you open it, you choose the appropriate malicious software, which may be the ransomware, and the user does not know that the virus has entered his device from the ground in this deceptive way.

Types of ransomware

Ransomware attacks have increased over the past few years, so there are several types of ransomware, and here are some of the most common types of malware attacks:

1. Cerber

It is a relatively new ransomware program that was developed in 2017, and what makes it one of the types of ransomware killer, is that the decryption software is compatible with 12 different languages, and this makes it easy for the creator to create an affiliate system, Cerber targets Office 365 users based on the cloud through a campaign An elaborate phishing, it has affected millions of users so far.

2. Locky

This type of ransomware spreads through spam messages and often looks like an invoice. Upon opening, it asks the user to enable macros to read them, and if you agree to that, the ransomware program starts encrypting files, media, and everything on your device, and then it asks you. The ransom to unlock it again, also by email.

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3. CryLocker

CryLocker is a type of smart ransomware, where it selects the data available on the user's computer, such as the username, date of birth, Facebook information, the address on any website available to him, then blocks your device from the ground and closes it and then asks him to pay the ransom within 24 hours.

This type of ransomware was created in 2013, and CryptoLocker was used to encrypt files using file extensions, then a hacker threatened to delete the private files within days of the infection unless a ransom was paid if the ransom was paid, a private key is given to the user from Through a specific online tool to reset its files.

CryptoLocker closed within a year, but only after hackers fled with a ransom of nearly $ 3 million did many types of this ransomware emerge as a result.

4. Jigsaw

Jigsaw is an especially dangerous ransomware program, as it encrypts your files and then begins to systematically delete them until the ransom is paid, and it will delete one or more files every hour for 72 hours, once 72 hours have passed, all files that were encrypted will be deleted.

5.Scareware

It is considered a disguised virus as well, as it reaches your device in the form of an anti-virus program or cleaning the device, thus claiming that some risks are threatening the device and then begins to ask for money in exchange for its solution, and its damages range from the emergence of a large number of spam messages until the device is completely closed in exchange for payment The ransomware.

6.Doxware

This type of virus uses a different method to obtain the ransom, whereby the user threatens to spread his stolen data over the Internet in the event of non-payment, which of course includes images, sensitive data, and various media.

7.Mac Ransomware

This type of virus targets devices that use the Mac operating system and began to spread in 2016, also known as KeRanger, and it may infect the device in several forms and through different applications.

What is the goal of ransomware?

There are many different ways attackers choose which organizations they target with ransomware, sometimes it is a matter of opportunity. Attackers may target universities because they have smaller security teams and a disparate user base that does a lot of file-sharing; Which makes it easier to penetrate their defenses.

On the other hand, some organizations are tempting targets, because they seem more likely to pay the ransom quickly, for example, law firms and other companies and institutions that have sensitive data are willing to pay to preserve their reputation and image, and these organizations may be uniquely sensitive to attacks from leaked programs.

But don't feel safe if you don't fit these categories, as we have indicated, some ransomware programs spread automatically and randomly across the Internet.

How to protect against ransomware

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As we explained that these viruses penetrate your device in multiple ways, there is no single method that can protect your device with ease, and if it can be removed by restarting the device in a safe mode, then using the anti-virus program to scan the device and remove the virus, but this is not Ensures that files can be returned again.

So there are several defensive steps you can take to prevent ransomware infection. These steps are of course generally good security practices, so following them improves your defenses from all kinds of attacks:

Keep your operating system up-to-date and patched, to make sure you have fewer vulnerabilities to exploit.

Do not install programs or give them administrative privileges unless you know exactly what they are and what they are doing.

Install antivirus software, which detects malware such as ransomware when it arrives, and whitelist programs that prevent unauthorized applications from executing in the first place.

Beware of spam emails that ask you to have permission to open their content, as most of these messages carry viruses and malicious programs that affect your device and your data in one way or another.

Back up your files, frequently and automatically. This won't stop a malware attack, but it might make the damage from one of them much less significant.

Last but not least, you should not pay the ransom no matter what happens or how long it takes, if you pay the ransom, you encourage the users of this software to continue with these cybercrimes, and there will be multiple victims, just as paying the ransom does not mean that the hacker of your device will return the files again, He may get the ransom and not return your files or get another copy of it to blackmail you in the future, so do not pay the ransom in any way.

How to remove ransomware

If your computer has been infected with ransomware, you will need to take back control of your device, so we'll show you how to do that on a Windows 10 machine like this:

Restart Windows 10 in Safe Mode

Install an anti-malware program

Check the system for ransomware

Restore the computer to its previous state

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Ransomware damages

Ransomware is one of the biggest cybersecurity threats faced by organizations right now, in recent years, it has been growing in size, scope, and sophistication.

In 2018, 69% of businesses were attacked by ransomware, and by the end of the year, it was costing the world more than £ 8 billion in compensation.

Ransomware is a type of malware that prevents users from accessing their system by encrypting files and then demanding a ransom to unlock the system, and cybercriminals usually set a deadline to pay the ransom, and if the deadline passes, the ransom payment will be doubled or files locked permanently.

This has the potential to cause significant damage to an organization, as was proven in the 2017 WannaCry attack that affected more than 200,000 victims in 150 countries.

A ransomware attack can spread when you open the infected file on a computer connected to the network, once the device is connected, the attack will spread quickly across the network and infect all computers, and this of course causes you many losses and damages, including the following: