INTERNATIONAL
According to ABS Laundry Business Solutions (ABS), professional hacking teams around the world are targeting companies with ransomware. The company asks textile care companies to be aware that the damage to companies over the past five years has increased by approx. $ 325 million in 2015 to an expected $ 20 billion in 2021.
Over the past 18 months there have been cases in the laundry industry where the ICT infrastructure has been compromised by malware that compromised day-to-day operations.
In general, the following approach is taken:
• A hacker compromises an end-user workstation and often starts with spam or targeted email
• Collects credentials to access other workstations and servers (credentials theft)
• Destroys backups / deactivates the backup system
• Copies valuable data
• Encrypt or "take hostage" server infrastructure and as many workstations as possible
• "Requests" a large ransom to decrypt data and unlock systems
In the event that it happens to your business, ABS recommends that a recovery plan be in place to help overcome malware infections. You need to be sure that you can rely on your backup solution and your standby systems when needed. Your backups should be stable to ransomware attacks and tested regularly.
There is no one size fits all or one step solution to avoiding ransomware attacks. ICT infrastructure and operating systems should be kept up to date, regularly patched and protected against theft of credentials. Recommended industry-proven security products must be implemented and there should be active monitoring.
According to ABS, the technicians are happy to provide advice and support if required. Click here to learn more about ABS.
