Recovering from a Ransomware Attack – What ProPublica Learned About Your Options
Ransomware Is on the Rise
According to a recent feature by ProPublica, tech firms like Monster Cloud and Proven Data have begun advertising the ability to restore stolen, encrypted files – for a fee. In reality, however, they don’t save you from paying the ransom. They pay it for you. These firms negotiate with hackers and take a cut of the ransom. The hackers benefit, the “recovery” firms benefit. You lose. The bad guys win.
Here’s what you need to know:
The Department of Homeland Security has reported that “more than 4,000 ransomware attacks have taken place daily since 2016.” Those are just the documented cases. Most decision-makers still have no clue what to do with the increasingly sophisticated ransomware hitting their offices. In order to save face – and their jobs – they often “Google” ways to solve the problem without paying the bad guys. This frequently leads to more trouble disguised as “honest recovery” through shady tech firms.
Victor Congioti, CEO of Proven Data, argues that “It’s easy to take the position that no one should pay (hackers) in a ransomware attack because such payments encourage future ransomware attacks. It is much harder, however, to take that position when it’s your data that has been encrypted and the future of your company is in peril.” It’s an expensive moral dilemma that leaves very few options for data protection. This is especially true when the jeopardized company is a government agency or hospital that needs to get back up and running, fast.
The majority of ransomware encryption is bulletproof. There is simply no getting through. Any company that insists that they have found a secret key to break into a company’s stolen data is probably bluffing. These tech companies know that nobody wants to pay a ransom – and they use that to their advantage. Unfortunately, the ransom is the only way out.
No company wants to pay ransom. No company wants to encourage crime. The only way to make certain you are not vulnerable is to have a completely separate backup of all of your data and systems on an entirely different network. Managed Disaster Recovery as a Service (MDRaaS) is the best solution.
Sky Data Vault’s offerings are the quickest, easiest, and most affordable path for most mid to large-sized companies. Our clients’ data and systems are safe from hackers, hardware failure, and human error. If anything ever happens, one call is all it takes to get back online.
Nobody should pay hackers. Make sure you (and your clients) never have to. Shoot us an email at info@skydatavault.com or give us a call at 877-909-9817. We’ll walk you through it.