Get Smart about Ransomware: Protect Yourself and Organization

Defend Yourself & Your Agency

Against Ransomware

• What is Ransomware?• How does it affect you?• Real world example• What to do if you are a victim of

Ransomware?• General Security Best Tips

Agenda

What is Ransomware?

Ransomware is a type of malicious software that restricts access to a victim’s infected computer while demanding that the victim pay money to the operators of the malicious software before that software is removed and access is regained.

ü Prevent you from accessing your operating systemü Encrypt all of your filesü Prevent you from running an application (like a browser)ü Disrupt your use of a smart TV, smart watch, or other

smart appliances

Once one of the above happens, there is no guarantee that paying the demanded ransom will restore your machine back to normal.

Ransomware CAN:

• Payment is always the goal of the attackers • …..(but restoring access to a computer

once the payment has been made is not always possible)• The return on investment for the attackers

is very high with this type of attack.

What is the Goal of the Attacks?

PAYMENT!

Reason #1: Ease of use

Reason #2: Propagation of Bitcoins(an increasingly common type of internet currency that is often demanded as ransom due to its untraceable nature)

Reason #3: Often, the ransom the attackers demand to clean up the damage is cheaper than hiring a security team to attempt to remove the malware.

Why Has it Become so Popular?

Source: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/portal/mmpc/shared/ransomware.aspx

Ransomware Comes in Many Forms:

2016 Ransomware Highlights

Source: https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/definition/ransomware

Attackers can restrict access to an infected computerHow? By…• Encrypting the hard drive with a

encryption key known only to the attackers• Taking control of the operating system

using a vulnerability present in the operating system and then displaying a message to the user telling them they have been locked out

How Does it Affect YOU?

Real World Example

Target Spotlight: Large Hospitals

• Recently, large urban hospitals have been targets of ransomware...• March 2016: Hollywood Presbyterian

Hospital in Los Angeles paid $17,000 to regain access to its computers• March 2016: The largest healthcare

provider in Washington DC, MedStarHealth, was ransomed for over $18,000 to gain access to its systems. • This form of extortion can be painful

to organization not only for the monetary loss, but also due to loss of reputation as their company names are made public)

Target Spotlight: Large Hospitals

Real World Example

Ransomware Spotlight: CryptoLocker

How was it made?• This ransomware was propagated using malicious email

attachments. It also used an existing botnet called “Zeus” for command and control of the malicious software.

What did it do?• CryptoLocker would encrypt certain types of files that were

stored locally or on mounted network drives using a public encryption key. CryptoLocker targeted computers running Windows.

Ransomware Spotlight: CryptoLocker

Why was it hard to recover encrypted data?• The private key that could decrypt the data was stored on the

botnet’s command and control servers. The malware was easy to remove…but that wasn’t the point. Once the data was encrypted, the damage was done.

What was the ransom threat?• Then the private key needed to decrypt their data would be

deleted…or the ransom would increase by a significant amount

Ransomware Spotlight: CryptoLocker

How was it beaten?• The original version of CryptoLocker was taken down when an

international operation consisting of law enforcement agencies, security companies, and academic researchers was able to destroy the ZeuS botnet which had been used to propagate CryptoLocker.

• “Operation Tovar” was able to sever the ZeuS botnet from its “command-and-control” servers. These servers had been used to send commands to machines infected with CryptoLocker and other forms of malware.

• Security firms were then able to create a portal called “Decrypt CryptoLocker”, which enabled over 500,000 victims to submit a file encrypted by CryptoLocker. The portal would then test that file against all of the encryption keys that had been stored by the command-and-control servers to find the one that would decrypt the victim’s files.

Ransomware Spotlight: CryptoLocker

Keep an eye out• ...Updated versions of CryptoLocker and many other forms of

ransomware have now become popular amongst cyber criminals, so the threat still remains.

Ransomware Spotlight: CryptoLocker

What if YOU Were the Victim?

If your computer has been locked bymalware or the files have been encrypted…

What if YOU Were the Victim?

Step 1:Don’t click on ANYTHING!

What if YOU Were the Victim?

Step 2:Don’t believe scare tactics!

Older versions of ransomware would often claim that youhad done something illegal with your computer. This is ascare tactic to trick victims into paying the ransom and notalerting the authorities.

…Don’t believe it!

What if YOU Were the Victim?

Step 3:If at all possible, don’t pay the ransom!

The fewer people and organizations that pay, the less likelyThat ransomware will stay as profitable as it is now.

Option 1: • If you feel you are technically savvy, you can visit Microsoft’s

website for steps that might help decrypt your files.

Option 2: • If you don’t feel comfortable trying that, we recommend taking

your computer to a well known computer repair shop that has experience with removing ransomware and restoring files.

General Security Tips:

Implementing a multiple layer of defense technique is required to defend computers against the crippling effects of ransomware.

Recommendation? Implement User EducationTrain your staff in security awareness best practices, especially email and malware!

What to Know About Malicious Software Detection Tools ü**Keep in Mind**...While these tools are useful, they may

not be able to stop the most recent versions of this malicious software because they are only able to identify the versions of the malicious software they recognize

üKeep all of your software up to date, especially your browsersüIf possible, have a pop-up blocker running on your browsers

General Security Tips:

üThis is the MOST IMPORTANT layer of defense.

üIt is important to have a data backup policy where system backups are stored in a location that is inaccessible to the infected machine, preventing the ransomware from encrypting the backups.

üThe backups should be stored on removable media or a drive that wasn’t connected when the ransomware was installed and executed.

General Security Tips:Maintain a Consistent Back-Up Data Policy

Additional Resources

• Get your free Ransomware Toolkit• Learn more about our Security Awareness Training

Program• Check out our blog for more security awareness tips