What is Ransomware? Why it is one of the most feared cyber-attacks?

What is Ransomware? Why it is one of the most feared cyber-attacks?

As the world is making progress in Information Technology by leaps and bond, the world has become a global village. Decades ago, access to the internet was limited. Nowadays, little kids have the internet on their phones. Especially when almost everyone has smartphones in their access, they have got the "whole world in their hand". It has both positive and negative impacts. One of the positive impacts is that people have more access to information than before. If you need to have any information, it is available in just one click rather than finding books or newspapers and then reading thoroughly. People can easily communicate with each other despite sitting hundreds of thousands of miles apart. So if we say that the internet has changed the lifestyle of people, that wouldn’t be wrong.

Despite these positive aspects, the internet has changed the mindset of criminals as well. Cybercrimes are as dangerous as actual crimes. They might not be resulting in physical illness or abuse, but they do result in financial losses or mental destruction.

There are many types of virus attacks like DOS, Phishing, Spyware, etc. they have different results.

But imagine, you wake up in the morning and turn on your PC. You try to open up your files but you come to know that your files are encrypted. In every folder, there is a text file with the message" Attention! Your files have been encrypted". Now it is definitely a worrying condition because you have become a victim of one of the worst cyber-attacks which is known as Ransomware.

Ransomware is a kind of malware that usually encrypts files that might be in the form of documents, photos, etc. Its basic purpose is to enable the victim from accessing their data and then ask for a ransom to be paid for getting access.

I am a part of a software house in Lahore and have visited many IT Solution Companies in Pakistan, I have seen how serious Ransomware can be for a corporate company. Even my personal PC at home became a victim of this "vicious" attack. The attackers play with the victim’s minds and offer them a discount for a specific time to get their files decrypted.

It enters into the system in different ways like phishing emails, and different websites especially those with explicit content that attracts people. It has also been observed that finding a dropped USB of any other data transferring device from a park, market, or another public place and then using it causes Ransomware because people drop it intentionally for the purpose of infecting Ransomware in systems.

Once entered the system, the malicious files start their work, and your files get encrypted. To add fuel to fire, if multiple systems are connected to the system they may also get infected. Large companies in the corporate sector have become victims of this attack. The worst condition is when it enters the server jamming every device connected to it.

So how can we avoid this type of attack? We must not visit any explicit content website as most of the virus is on these types of websites. The use of a proper anti-virus is compulsory in corporate with sector strict network security. Awareness in public is also needed because until we don’t provide a chance, the attack is never executed.