Theoretically, if organizations pay the ransom, the attackers will provide a decryption tool and withdraw the threat to publish stolen data. However, payment doesn’t guarantee all data will be restored. Executives need to carefully consider the realities of ransomware, including :On average, only 65% of the data is recovered, and only 8% of organizations manage to recover all data.

Qualys Ransomware Risk Assessment puts cybersecurity teams in control by operationalizing government guidelines and providing a company-specific ransomware heatmap so they can eliminate an area of risk and shrink their attack surface.

“Adversaries could use social engineering and phishing campaigns in the lead up to the event to obtain access or use previously obtained access to implant malware to disrupt affected networks during the event. Social engineering and phishing campaigns continue to provide adversaries with the access needed to carry out such attacks,” the federal law enforcement agency warned.

Tech support fraud is increasingly becoming a larger problem, with losses from scams surpassing US$146 million, which is a 171% year-on-year increase. Con artists usually try to defraud their victims by offering to resolve non-existent technical issues, such as a software license expiring, or warning them that their email or bank accounts have been “compromised”.

The range of six gateways sets new standards of protection against the most advanced cyber-attacks for SMBs, giving unrivalled ease of deployment and management, and delivering optimum security without needing specialist skills.