Ransomware can enter the network or device in a number of different ways. It’s important to know what to look for to safeguard your assets.
- Phishing emails – Phishing emails are designed to fool a victim into sharing sensitive information like usernames, passwords, credit card information. They then use that information in a malicious way. In Q1 2016 alone, 93% of phishing emails contained ransomware. Phishing emails are easy to send, so hackers are utilizing this method to make a quick payday through ransomware.
- Malvertising – Malvertising is simply malicious advertising. Ransomware ‘malvertising’ involves malicious code being installed on the victim’s device without their knowledge when a user clicks the ad. Once the payload is installed, the hard drive is encrypted and the malware demands payment in Bitcoins to decrypt the device.
- Email attachments – Hackers also use malicious email attachments to trick users into opening a file, oftentimes disguising the file as a PDF invoice or Word document.