RiskUKApril2017

Ransomware is a
constantly growing
threat and a highly
effective one.
Osterman research
from 2016 found that
ransomware was used
to target 54% of UK
organisations, with
more than half paying
the ransom. Of those
who didn’t pay, nearly
a third ended up
losing their data.
Wieland Age looks at
why defeating
ransomware is so
important in today’s
education sector
An Education on Ransomware
Last year, Locky spawned a file-encrypting
epidemic. Since then, it has become the
most prevalent ransomware on the planet.
Targeting universities among many other large
institutions, its continuous, pitch-perfect
campaigns demonstrate how organised crime is
digitising faster and more successfully than
many ‘legitimate’ enterprises.
This emergence of Locky, which represents a
new strain of ransomware, demonstrates just
how successful cyber criminals are becoming at
mastering the digital transformation agenda.
Locky’s creators invested significant time and
resources in product development, identifying
the best user interface, performance and
encryption security protocols. So much so, in
fact, that the FBI actually recommended victims
pay any demanded ransom in order to gain the
correct decryption code.
To support their programme, the criminals
even created a ‘Customer Help Centre’ to
handle sales and support. If victims have
problems decrypting their data, online ‘staff’
are on-hand via chat rooms to walk ‘customers’
through the process. This ensures that there
are no negative social media reports from
victims who, having paid up, are then unable to
regain access to their data files.
When it comes to propagating Locky, the
online criminals have done their homework. In
December, their latest phishing campaign
reached millions of victims in over 100
countries within days. Most start-ups would be
overwhelmed by such success, but the
distributors of Locky have created a highly
mature online infrastructure designed to
manage high volumes of payments and
enquiries – in multiple languages – from the
victims whom they target.
Education: an unlikely target?
IT professionals operating in educational
institutions have been slow to adopt
ransomware defences, perhaps because there
has been an unfounded misconception that
they’re unlikely to be targeted. If that used to
be the case, it’s certainly not true any more.
Bournemouth University was hit by no less than
21 ransomware attacks last year, while Los
Angeles College was recently forced to pay a
$28,000 ransom to unlock critical data and
systems following a ransomware attack. It’s
shocking, but not altogether uncommon. In
many ways, educational establishments are a
logical target for malicious attackers.
With whole campuses full of independent,
computer-based study being carried out by
students, these younger users could be
perceived to be less wary of suspicious e-mails,
attachments and websites. Compound this with
the fact that each one of these thousands of
pupils likely has multiple devices, all connected
to the institution’s network, and it’s easy to see
how hackers might view schools, colleges and
universities as low hanging fruit. Millions of
highly sensitive records, treasured works and
confidential details, combined with a very real
need to aintain their reputations as trusted
organisations, mean that educational
institutions are seen by many as easy pickings.
Education sector IT budgets don’t normally
include blank cheques for combating cyber
criminals, so investing in anti-ransomware
measures should be a priority for any
educational organisation wanting to avoid a
nasty and expensive surprise.
Fortunately, it’s possible to halt digital
attacks with a combination of the right security
measures and user awareness.
Raising awareness
Most ransomware attacks begin with an e-mail
containing malicious links or attachments.
Consequently, to reduce the likelihood of a
successful attack, it’s imperative to ensure staff
and students know all about the dangers of
ransomware, understand how to practise safe
computing and can recognise the indicators of
malicious e-mails. It’s also important to
maintain awareness by implementing a
programme of regular reminders.
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