Hackers took Utrecht municipalities hostage and demanded 750.000 euros
The criminal group that hijacked the backup system of the municipality of Hof van Twente wanted 750.000 euros to release the stolen documents. The hackers said they took 40 terabytes of municipal information hostage and left a message asking for contact. “Hello, do you need to return data? Please contact us soon.”
The municipality does not understand the hacker's request. De Volkskrant has contacted the criminal group responsible for the attack with Ransomware. In addition, the data on the 24 virtual servers in Hof Van Twente has been completely destroyed and the criminals have encrypted the backup system.
It's about financial management, the e-mail and personal data of citizens. The hackers ask for 50 bitcoins for the key to restore the file. The municipality and the police have not yet contacted the criminal group
What is Ransomware?
The phenomenon Ransomware or encryption software works in the following way. You will receive an email with a link to download the infected code to your PC. Typically, these are payment reminder emails, collection agencies, or other topics that quickly grab your attention and are often clicked without prior consideration.
If you download malicious code to your PC after clicking the apparently quiet link, all files that you as a user have access to will be encrypted with a 2048-bit key. This makes it almost impossible to unlock your files without the required decryption key. A message will appear on the screen that the file has been encrypted and once you pay the fee you can access the decrypted files again. Unfortunately, there are also reports of affected companies failing to obtain the decryption key after payment.
Ransomware without suspicious email
In addition to hostile emails, other infections can also occur. In some advanced cases, Ransomware criminals appear to hide their malicious code in advertising banners recommended for you on various websites. The slogans themselves are not suspicious because they actually belong to legit companies.
The advertising agency that posted slogans on various websites was the first company to be infected. This allows criminals to "inject" malicious code immediately after website visitors click a legitimate banner. These advanced methods are just the tip of the iceberg. Reliable online publishers like The New York Times en BBC have been victims of these practices. In addition, in the United States, there are several reports indicating that hospitals are facing the reality of Ransomware attacks.
What can you do against Ransomware?
The best protection against Ransomware is a foolproof backup. Preferably several times a day. Since even the most famous antivirus software package does not notice the latest Ransomware, relying on it alone is not enough. By ensuring that encrypted files can be overwritten by the most recent backup, Flexamedia's business system has protected several customers from major data losses. Flexamedia has advanced backup solutions. Would you like to know more about our cybersecurity specialists? Please feel free to contact us without obligation.
Have an online backup
Flexamedia helps companies and individuals create of backups of personal and company data. All your data is stored on our secure server for a fixed rate of 9,99 euros per month.
If you choose to back up your data online, we will ensure the best settings for your PC or laptop. You don't have to do anything for this. The online backup is automatic, so data is saved every day without you having to do anything.
We send all your data to our server without any problems via an encrypted connection.