News Feature | October 3, 2016

Tools For Helping SMBs Combat Ransomware

Christine Kern

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

Ransomware Concerns Grow

VIPRE releases new version of ransomware defense to businesses of all sizes.

Ransomware and other malware attacks are on the rise as cyber criminals are becoming more sophisticated, better organized, and bolder. This escalating epidemic is leaving many businesses and consumers at risk of losing protected data.

As PC World reported, the tide of ransomware began with Cryptolocker in 2013, which potentially rewarded its operators with tens of millions of dollars before its network was shut down in 2014 by authorities. In its wake, a number of other ransomware variants have emerged, and between mid-March and August 24, 2015, more than 600,000 systems were infected with the CryptoWall variant of ransomware, according to managed security firm SecureWorks.

And cyber criminals are also going mobile, as mobile security firm Lookout found, with four of the top five malware programs encountered by Android users in 2014 were ransomware posing as legitimate apps. While only 7 percent of Android users encountered any malware, ransomware accounted for nearly all of the 76 percent increase in encounters from 2013.

To help small businesses combat the rise of ransomware, VIPRE has launched VIPRE Internet Security Pro Small Office to extend ransomware defense to businesses of all sizes. Using cloud-based security services and behavior analysis, VIPRE can help stop ransomware and protect businesses from loss of data, productivity, reputation and client base.

“Ransomware attacks are on the rise, and their impact can be devastating to small business owners who may be unable to recoup from data loss, business downtime, and recovery expenses," said Usman Choudhary, chief product officer for ThreatTrack Security, the developer of VIPRE.

Webroot also has published an MSP Guide: Stopping Crypto Ransomware infections in SMBs, which provides insight into best practices for combatting ransomware. As Webroot asserted, “Even the best endpoint security will only be 100 percent effective most of the time. At other times, cybercriminals will have found a way to circumvent endpoint security defenses and the attacks will succeed.”