How Ransomware is Delivered to a Computer or a Network

 

Understanding ransomware attacks

Ransomware attacks are on the rise and are becoming increasingly dangerous in recent years. An attack on corporate networks that encrypts sensitive information can cost businesses hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. In 2020, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received 2,474 ransomware complaints. Mobile Computer Services, a managed it services company, shares the attack vectors through which ransomware enters and threatens a system.

Ransomware is a type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid. As attacks evolve and attack methods get more sophisticated over time, understanding and preventing ransomware from affecting the system is of utmost importance. 

How does ransomware gain access to the workplace and computer? 

The methods with which ransomware gains access to systems are known as attack vectors, which can be divided into two types: human attack vectors and machine attack vectors.

1. Human Attack Vectors

Social engineering is the use of deception to manipulate individuals into divulging confidential or personal information that may be used for fraudulent purposes. This is one of the tactics that cybercriminals use to fool people into giving up information that they otherwise would not divulge.  

Common human attack vectors include: 

a. Phishing

Phishing is a type of social engineering attack wherein a victim is duped into sharing confidential data, including login credentials, banking details, and other personal or business information with a hacker. It uses fake emails to trick people into clicking on a link or opening an attachment that carries a malware payload. Often, the attackers research the person or organization in question before curating emails that seem legitimate. The attackers may also send mails to the target in the name of a known person to create credibility - this personalized attack is called spear phishing.

b. SMSishing

The use of text messages to dupe recipients to navigate to a site or enter personal information on their device is called SMSishing. The usual methods include authentication messages or messages that seem to originate from a financial or another service provider. The worst scenario is when some of the SMSishing ransomware is created to propagate itself by sending the threat to all contacts in the affected device’s contacts list.

c. Vishing

When a scammer uses phone calls and voicemail to extract personal information and financial details, such as account numbers and passwords from a victim, it is called vishing. The usual scam is creating a sense of urgency by claiming that the victim’s account has been compromised, representing the victim’s bank or law enforcement, or offering to help the victim install the software. Cybercriminals can appear professional and employ sound effects and other means to appear legitimate.

d. Social Media phishing

When cybercriminals use social media as the platform to convince a victim to open a downloaded image from a social media site or take some other compromising action, it is called social media phishing. The ransomware carrier could be music, video, or other active content that once opened infects the user’s system. The scammer can extract social media account login credentials, credit card information, and personal information about the victim that can be used to launch further scams and attacks.

2. Machine Attack Vectors

Unlike the human attack vectors, the machine attack is automated and does not require any concrete human cooperation to infiltrate a computer or a network. 

a. Drive-by

Drive-by-download attacks are malicious programs that are installed on a victim’s device without consent. This may also include unintentional downloads of any files or bundled software onto a computer device. The moniker drive-by originated from the method this attack takes wherein the victim has to only open a webpage with malicious code in an image or active content to download, unintentionally, the ransomware on the device.

b. System vulnerabilities

Cybercriminals research their targets to understand the vulnerabilities of specific systems and exploit these weak points to break in and install ransomware on the machine. Systems that have not been patched with the latest security releases often fall prey to these attacks. 

c. Malvertising

Malvertising is like a drive-by, except that it utilizes ads to deliver malware. Popular social media sites or search engines may be used to infiltrate the computer or network. A common host for malvertising is adults-only sites.

d. Propagation through the network and shared services

Once ransomware enters a system, it can scan for file shares and accessible computers and propagate itself across the network or shared system. Companies with inadequate security might have their company file server and other network shares corrupted as well. File sharing or syncing activities may become the perfect means for ransomware to spread across a vast network and shared services within milliseconds.  

Users must be vigilant about the settings they use for systems that automatically sync, and be aware of the source of a file before sharing them.  

Why Mobile Computer Services?

Mobile Computer Services is a professional IT services company that works with small and medium-sized businesses in Raleigh NC. The services include:

1. Managed IT services - 24x7 proactive monitoring and management of the company's IT infrastructure.
2. Network services: Comprehensive care for the network systems provided by certified technicians.
3. Business continuity planning: Get the business back on its feet swiftly during and after disasters.
4. IT consulting: High-caliber advice from professional consultants to help achieve business goals.
5. Security: Safeguard business from malicious hackers and cyber attacks.
6. On-demand services: Day or night, the dedicated support staff is always available to assist.
7. Office move: Professional office relocation and network cabling services.
8. VoIP: Reduce telecom expenses and improve communications with powerful phone systems.
9. Email protection: Protect mail systems from spam and malware.

Contact Mobile Computer Services, Inc. in Raleigh, NC today at (919) 830-9448 to find out about its Managed IT services.  

Professional IT Services Images - 10/25/2021

 

Managed IT Services Images - 10/25/2021

 

Mobile Computer Services Explains The Benefits of Network Security Monitoring

 Network security monitoring and its benefits

A network failure can prove to be a huge setback to an organization. Considering the security threats and increasing network vulnerabilities, network monitoring has become an indispensable process for organizations. Mobile Computer Services, a managed IT services company, discusses why network security monitoring is so critical today.  

What is network security monitoring?

It is a service offered by managed IT service providers to keep a watchful eye over an organization’s network (both traffic and devices). The network security monitoring service will look for any security threats, network vulnerabilities, suspicious activity, and so on. This is a preemptive action that protects the network from any potential disasters by keeping a constant watch.

This proactive monitoring ensures that a business has an extra security defense and reduces the chances of disruption in business operations. A reactive measure after the security has been breached can lead to massive leakage of time, money, and productivity. 

Benefits of network monitoring

Here are some of the main advantages of network security monitoring:

1. Creates a performance benchmark

IT outages can be caused by human error, incompatible network changes, or the ever-growing complexity of technology. However, constant network monitoring offers foresight to the team by benchmarking daily performance and allowing them to capture any anomalies preemptively. 

With the help of effective monitoring, early warning signs can be identified and potential faults rectified before they escalate into major issues causing downtime and losses. 

2. Effective resource allocation

In the absence of network monitoring, an IT outage can lead to the diversion of resources from one critical business project to another, without any preparation. Considering that the usually short-staffed IT teams are always under duress with complex tasks and volume of work, the outages can strain the team’s capacity with tedious troubleshooting tasks. Network monitoring allows the team to foresee such outages and prevent themselves from investing all their energy in solely managing catastrophic network events.  

3. Manage the evolving IT environment

With technological innovations such as internet-enabled sensors, wireless devices, and cloud technologies, IT teams now have an array of technologies to monitor for any suspicious activity. With the current trend of increasing wireless devices connecting to the network as people continue working from home or bring their devices, there is a huge number and variety of devices that access a company’s infrastructure.

A network security monitoring will provide the IT teams with a comprehensive inventory of wired and wireless devices, help analyze long-term trends, facilitate optimum use of assets, and decrease expenses.

4. Arrest security threats

As cybercrime continues to become more sophisticated and common, network monitoring can provide network insights that can help IT teams detect and mitigate threats in time. By continually updating security patches and standardizing security settings on all individual workloads, IT teams can effectively maintain network security. This proactive arrest of security threats not only protects the company data and systems but also saves precious time that would otherwise be spent on addressing daily security threats.

5. New technology and ROI

Organizations that aspire to grow need to make financial investments in new technologies. However, it becomes impossible to determine the ROI on these projects without the monitoring and management of the network. Network monitoring allows historic insight into an equipment’s performance over time. This enables the analysis of trends to deduce the success of the new technology and its scalability. Moreover, the monitoring helps mitigate any associated risks of using new technology. 

Why Mobile Computer Services?

Mobile Computer Services is a professional IT services company that works with small and medium-sized businesses in Wake Forest. The services include:

1. Managed IT services - 24x7 proactive monitoring and management of the company's IT infrastructure.
2. Network services: Comprehensive care for the network systems provided by certified technicians.
3. Business continuity planning: Get the business back on its feet swiftly during and after disasters.
4. IT consulting: High-caliber advice from professional consultants to help achieve business goals.
5. Security: Safeguard business from malicious hackers and cyber attacks.
6. On-demand services: Day or night, the dedicated support staff is always available to assist.
7. Office move: Professional office relocation and network cabling services.
8. VoIP: Reduce telecom expenses and improve communications with powerful phone systems.
9. Email protection: Protect mail systems from spam and malware.

Contact Mobile Computer Services, Inc. at Wake Forest today at (919) 230-2900 for IT support, services and solutions.  

Managed IT Services Wake Forest Images - 9/27/2021

 

Managed IT Services Images Raleigh - 9/27/2021

 

Managed IT Services Images - 9/8/2021