What is Ransomware Attack And How You Can Avoid it? | #malware | #ransomware | #education | #technology | #infosec

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Ransomware Attack: SpiceJet passengers had a harrowing time at various airports as several flights were delayed earlier in the day—courtesy ransomware attack.  The incident came to the fore after a flyer Mudit Shejwar shared on Twitter that he was on an aircraft that had failed to take off even after 80 minutes of the boarding.Also Read – ‘Operating Normally?’: SpiceJet Passengers Slam Airline After it Blames ‘Attempted Ransomware Attack’ for Uninformed Delays

“On board flight SG2345 to Dharmshala, it’s been already 80 mins since we boarded the plane we have not taken off yet, the only communication is of some server down and issues with paper work for fuel, is this for real,” he tweeted, tagging SpiceJet, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Airport Authority of India and the Delhi airport authority. Also Read – Delhi Rains: Flights Delayed For Second Day at IGI Airport, Airlines Issue Passenger Advisory | Tweets Inside

Also Read – SpiceJet Flight From Delhi To Shirdi Diverted To Mumbai Due To Bad Weather

Later, SpiceJet issued a statement and held ransomware attack responsible for the flight disruptions, “Certain SpiceJet systems faced an attempted ransomware attack last night that impacted and slowed down morning flight departures today. Our IT team has contained and rectified the situation and flights are operating normally now”, the airline tweeted.

What is Ransomware Attack? 

A type of malware attack in which the attacker locks and encrypts the victim’s data, important files and then demands a payment to unlock and decrypt the data is known as Ransomware.

While the COVID-19 pandemic led to a rise in ransomware attacks, the inaction, or the delay in the implementation of technical and infrastructure changes in the new normal has made organisations more vulnerable.

Notably, there has been an alarming rise in ransomware breaches globally, including in India. A recent report showed that ransomware attacks witnessed a surge of  13 per cent in the past year— a jump greater than the past 5 years combined.

The report analysed 23,896 security incident, of which 5212 were confirmed breaches. Human element was involved in 82 per cent of all breaches analysed over the past year.

About 25 per cent of total breaches in the report were the result of social engineering attacks. As India Inc across industries adopt a hybrid work model, new security challenges and complexities continue to emerge.

7 in 10 Indians Hit With Ransomware Attacks

As per a news report, more than 7 in 10 of Indian organisations were hit with ransomware attacks last year, up from 68% in 2020. The average ransom paid by the Indian organisations that had date encrypted in their most significant ransomware attack was USD 1,198,475 with 10 per cent of victims paying ransoms of USD 1 million or more, cybersecurity firm Sophos showed.

How to Avoid Ransomware Attacks

To avoid becoming a victim of such attacks, people need to be aware of some tips like:-

  • Never open attachments from unknown sources
  • Keep your software up-to date
  • Make sure you have a robust anti-virus protection strategy.



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