Ransomware Attacks on Small Businesses Grew 8 Times

Small businesses faced eight times more ransomware attacks in the third quarter of 2016 than the third quarter of 2015. According to the Kaspersky Security Network (KSN)<1>, 27,471 attempts to block access to corporate data were detected and repelled by Kaspersky Small Office Security in Q3 2016, compared to 3,224 similar attacksin the same period of 2015.

NEW DELHI: Ransomware blocks all operations or encrypts critical business data untila ransom is paid. A successful ransomware attack usually leads to significant financial loss or even the shutdown of critical business processes, something which can have a significant impact on a small company. In Kaspersky Lab’s Corporate IT Security Risks 2016 study more than half of respondents from small businesses (55%)reported that it had taken them several days to restore access to encrypted data after an attack.

In order to minimize risks businesses need to address ransomware threats with preventive measures. Minimal security requirements should include educating personnel on how to resist social engineering and fishing attempts, how to make backup copies of critical data, how to update software on their devices and how to implement high-end information security solutions suitable for a small company’s needs.

“Threats in the small business sector are constantly increasing, so even the smallest companies need to be able to protect themselves. When it comes to ransomware, paying the ransom doesn’t guarantee that data will be returned safely. To ensure protectionfrom ransomware and other types of attacks, businesses need to implement reliable up-to-dateinformation security solutions as a preventive measure - it is always easier to prevent threats, than respond to them when the damage has already been done.”said Vladimir Zapolyansky, Head of SMB Marketing, Kaspersky Lab.

Because their protection needs are different to those of large corporations, small companiesneed to implementdedicated solutions. Kaspersky Lab has therefore released an update to Kaspersky Small Office Security.The solution now features an enhanced anti-ransomware functionality to provide multi-layered protection from well-known and emerging threats for small and very small businesses.

<1>KSN is a complex cloud-enabled distributed infrastructure that automatically processes huge amounts of depersonalized cybersecurity-related data in order to ensure the quickest reaction times to new and advanced threats(Link to KSN whitepaper).