The cybercriminals are constantly expanding their strategies or modalities to infiltrate users’ devices in order to access personal information and, through its use, steal money or virtual goods of people.
In the case of ransomware, they “hijack” the data of a device and encrypt them so that users cannot access them unless a “ransom” is paid. However, a new mode of cyber attack Its main characteristic is that it goes beyond the information hijacking and goes directly to its elimination.
According to a spokesperson for Check Point, a solutions company in cyber security, told Infobae that this modality has already been reported recently. Manuel Rodríguez, Engineering Manager of security for the North of Latin America in the company stated that this form of attack with ransomware has two reasons:
ease to attack
While ransomware attacks are not uncommon, performing one it takes time because the cybercriminals have to encrypt data to prevent victims from accessing them and feeling the need to make a payment criminals to release the information held within the device.
According to Rodríguez, this process is complex and not automatic. “With this practice, now what the attacker has to do is simply extract the data and then delete them of the team”, he told Infobae.
Eliminate victim alternatives
Another of the important factors and for which a cyber criminal chooses this type of attack is because it seeks that the victim, be it a person or a organizationexperience fear not seeing your information and consider that your only option is to pay the ransom demanded by the criminal.
“In the case of encrypted data, the victim could look for alternatives that do not even involve the ransom paymentlike trying to decipher the data on their own”, indicates Manuel Rodríguez.
With the extraction modality of the information of the device, the cybercriminals they take the data, delete it from the computer and then demand a ransom to return it although, as in any case of ransomwarethere is no guarantee of return and neither that these data will be used later for a new attack with another modality.
How to avoid being a victim
The attacks of ransomware They start with security breaches, so to avoid falling into this type of situation, either at the user level or Business or organizations, the recommendations imply prevent and distrust.
– The users they could have backups of the information that are outside the equipment and, therefore, beyond the reach of attacks by cyber criminals. This is a method that can also be applied to organizations.
– It is recommended to have the proper protections in teams, like a good antiviruswith the ability to detect and prevent this type of attack.
– Users must be very careful not to respond to any message, not to click on any link and not to open any unexpected file that arrives by mail or social networks.
– Always be suspicious of any message sent to you that redirects you to a link or directs you to a file and also asks to open it.
Taking these measures it is possible to reduce the risk of being a victim of this type of attack.
KEEP READING:
What to do if you are a victim of ransomware or data hijacking
Ransomware or ransomware increased 107% globally
Ransomware attacks: What they are and why they have increased in the last year
Source-www.infobae.com