A?
JAMIE HUMPHREY,
MD A/NZ AT
CLOUD DATA
MANAGEMENT
COMPANY, RUBRIK
s production
line processes
are increasingly
automated and
data-driven,
Australian
manufacturers
have become a favourite target of
ransomware attackers as these
processes can only work with stable and
consistent access to data.
As data is the lifeblood of many
manufacturers, this makes the industry
very attractive to ransomware groups.
A number of Australian manufacturers
have fallen victim this year alone.
BlueScope’s Australian manufacturing
operations were impacted due to a
ransomware attack, as were those of
beverage giant, Lions, which warned
of beer shortages while it fought to
return operations to normal. Further, the
logistics processes of Toll Group ground
to a halt in the wake of two consecutive
ransomware attacks earlier this year.
In a ransomware attack, hackers aim
to trick an employee into opening a
malicious email that executes a piece
of malware which encrypts as much
of a business’ data as it can. The
attackers then demand the business
pays a ransom, typically in Bitcoin or
another cryptocurrency, in order to
retrieve their files.
These types of attacks are extremely
popular because they require little
specialised knowledge (complete,
ready-to-go Ransomware-as-a-Service
kits are easily available on the Deep
and Dark Web), they have debilitating
consequences for the victim and – as
the recent breaches highlight – they’re
often successful.
In fact, according to a new report,
ransomware attacks are estimated to
have cost Australian businesses up to
AUD240 million in 2019 alone.
Rather than face losing weeks of
production, many might simply bite the
editor’s question
With a
comprehensive
backup strategy,
businesses can
simply turn back the
clock and continue
production as if
the attack never
occurred.
bullet and pay the ransom to have their
data restored.
Paying attackers to restore data,
however, is a huge gamble. In fact, the
Federal Government’s Australian Signals
Directorate explicitly recommends
against it.
Although there is no straight answer
to protect against falling victim to
ransomware, there are strategies to
ensure the disruption to business in
the event of an attack is minimised.
Foremost among them is restoring
operations from backup data.
Maintaining frequent backups is
recommended by both the Australian
Cybersecurity Center and the Australian
Signals Directorate as a way to guard
against ransomware attacks. The more
often critical data is backed up, the
easier it is to restore operations from a
point in time just prior to the infection.
In other words, with a comprehensive
backup strategy, businesses can
simply turn back the clock and
continue production as if the attack
never occurred. The more frequently
data snapshots are taken, the quicker
services can return to normal.
www.intelligentciso.com | Issue 29
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