The ALS Group Risk Management Articles

The recently released study by PWC has identified Cybercrime as 2016’s second most reported economic crime. Organizations believing they may have minimal exposure or immunity to cyber risk is unfortunately wishful thinking thanks to the “Internet of Things” (“IoT”). Firewalls, security rules, and best practices may protect you against conventional security vulnerabilities, but the periphery devices that make up the internet of things open up a new set of cyber risks.

You thought everything was in its right place. Firewalls are properly configured, systems are patched on a scheduled basis, anti-virus is up-to-date… but something has gone wrong and your network has been breached. Your employee or customer’s Personally Identifiable Information (“PII”) has been taken, or worse, been made public…but what happens next?

Ransomware strikes. Your critical data files have been encrypted and your business grinds to a halt. You have the choice to spend countless hours rebuilding from backups (if you were diligent enough to ensure they will work) or you can pay the perpetrator to unlock your files. This is the scenario many, many firms and individuals are facing now that ransomware is spreading like wildfire through malicious emails, “malvertising” campaigns and exploit kits.

Ransomware seems to be everywhere and is one of the latest cyber crime tactics being utilized by cyber criminals to extort money from companies. This malicious code can lock or encrypt your network files or PC until a hefty fee is paid. It can infect your PC, server, network files, and or backup systems and can enter your network through an infected email attachment, downloaded file, or a vulnerability in a network service.