Ransomware
has emerged as the most serious malware threat of the 21st century, with
criminals projected to extort $5B from their victims in 2017. With the help of
a hard-drive-encrypting virus, cyber criminals force users to choose between
paying an online ransom and losing their files forever. The rapid growth of
this form of high-tech larceny has led many business and users to leverage cloud-based storage and backup services in an effort to foil ransomware
attacks.
Acronis, a
global leader in hybrid cloud data protection and storage, recently completed a
consumer backup survey in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Germany, France and Japan.
The results were revealing, beginning with the finding that most users are
completely unaware of the threat posed by ransomware attacks, much less how to
prepare for them.
"This
survey exposed a serious disparity between the value assigned to respondent data
and what is actually being done to protect that data," said John Zanni, CMO of
Acronis. This is true for both the consumer market and for businesses.
"Backup
still remains the most effective vaccine against data loss. Creating a
backup before disaster strikes is much more efficient and cost effective than
looking for a cure when your data is lost.
Affordable backup
software is readily available, so there is no excuse for losing your data or
exposing it to cyber criminals and ransomware attacks."
General
survey findings:
-
Over
34 percent of respondents said that they, or their family members, have
experienced data loss.
-
Over
26 percent of respondents acknowledged they don't perform any type of data
backup.
-
Those
who perform regular backups said that security, ease of use and storage
capacity are the most important features in a backup solution.
Ransomware
awareness findings:
-
Over
62 percent of respondents said they have never heard of ransomware.
-
While
more than 67 percent placed great importance on their personal information,
documents, pictures, videos and music, only 5.8 percent realized that it can cost
more than $500 to recover their data after a ransomware attack.
Ransomware criminals
extorted over $1 billion from victims in 2016 alone, according to the FBI, and while public cases involving
hospitals and government agencies receive prime coverage, attacks on home
computers go underreported.
"Security
threats are certainly coming after consumers, not just enterprises," commented Eric
O'Neill, former FBI counter-terrorism and counterintelligence operative, in a recent interview with Acronis. "We tend to think of
it as a problem for business or government. The fact of the matter is that most
of the malware is affecting grandparents, parents and anyone with an email
account and a computer."
Other
survey findings:
-
51.8
percent of households have more
than 4 devices.
-
26.6 percent see security as the most important
backup feature.
-
A significant portion of respondents, 10.5
percent, place considerable value on Facebook data.
There are four
easy steps to protect data:
-
Always have a backup of your important data.
Choose backup software
with local storage, cloud storage and active protection against
ransomware.
-
Keep your operating system and software up to
date. It will block cyber criminals from entering your system through any known
security holes.
-
Be mindful of suspicious email, links, and
attachments. The most effective infiltration method used by ransomware
criminals is getting users to open infected email attachments and to click on
links to malicious websites.
-
Install an antivirus software on your
computer and enable automatic signature updates. If you are on a PC, make sure
your Windows Defender is enabled and is up to date.
Special
offer from Acronis
Malware attacks and defenses against them are continually
evolving. Once the use of backups was proven to be a reliable defense against
ransomware, malware gangs began developing ransomware variants that find and
attack backup files, too. To answer this new threat, Acronis enhanced its
backup solutions with innovative new anti-ransomware technology. Introduced in
January 2017, Acronis
Active Protection actively defends both user files and their backups by
identifying and blocking ransomware attacks in real-time.
Take advantage of the World Backup Day special offer on
Acronis True Image and start protecting your data today!