Jornt van der Wiel is a member of our GReAT \u2014 Global Research and Analysis Team \u2014 and our top ransomware and encryption expert. He lives in the Netherlands, and has been working for Kaspersky Lab for more than 2 years.<\/p>\n
We offered our readers a chance to ask Jornt any questions they might have about ransomware and encryption \u2014 and the response was amazing. In fact, there were too many questions to publish in just one blog post, so we split them into two groups. In this post, Jornt answers questions mostly regarding ransomware and in the next post, he\u2019ll talk encryption.<\/p>\n
Do you think that ransomware will concern us more and more in the future, compared to other malware categories such as classic vi-ruses and Trojan horses?<\/b><\/p>\n
Yes, for sure. We are seeing a rise both in new families being discovered and in infection attempts on users. The threat is becoming bigger and bigger every day. That is largely because ransomware is relatively easy to monetize. A criminal infects somebody, the victim pays, and once the payment is made, the victim receives the keys and is able to decrypt the files. There is no need for any additional communication or any other interactions. This is in contrast to banking malware, for example, which usually requires criminals to talk to their victims via chat.<\/p>\n
How can I avoid being affected by ransomware?<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2022 Always have the latest updates of your software installed;<\/p>\n
\u2022 Don\u2019t click on links or attachments in any suspicious e-mails;<\/p>\n
\u2022 Enable file extensions in Windows (so that you see if the filename is actually invoice.pdf.exe<\/i> in-stead of just invoice.pdf<\/i>);<\/p>\n
\u2022 Have your anti-virus solution updated and configured with heuristics on;<\/p>\n
\u2022 And, for when things go wrong, have backups. Store them offline, or store your files in the cloud with unlimited version control (so even if your files get encrypted on your local drive, which is then synced to the cloud, you can still retrieve the latest un-encrypted version).<\/p>\n
As a person, am I more vulnerable to ransomware than a company?<\/b><\/p>\n
Ransomware targets everybody. Sometimes, specific companies are targeted, but mostly, we see massive spam runs aimed at infecting anybody. On the other hand, large companies are not willing to pay the ransom; they usually have backups in place. Smaller companies are sometimes more likely to pay because restoring the backup might cost more than paying the ransom.<\/p>\n
\n10 tips to protect your files from ransomware https:\/\/t.co\/o0IpUU9CHb<\/a> #iteducation<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/I47sPIiWFF<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Kaspersky (@kaspersky) November 30, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n