Why It's Risky to Make a Ransomware Payment

Imagine your business gets hit with ransomware tomorrow, and suddenly you have to make a snap decision: Pay the hacker, or risk never seeing your company’s sensitive information again.

Would you pay? It’s one thing to make a decision now, but quite another when the pressure is on.

For years, cybersecurity experts and law enforcement agencies have been urging business leaders to think twice before making a ransomware payment. This is because it’s impossible to tell who you are actually wiring money to over the Internet.

Just recently, for instance, news broke that hackers are now using a Tor proxy service to intercept ransomware payments and redirect them into their personal bitcoin wallets. To execute this man-in-the-middle attack, hackers first request victims download the Tor browser so they can buy cryptocurrency and pay the ransom. A hacker will usually send a link to a Tor proxy, or a website that transofrms Tor traffic into normal Internet traffic. Then, the hacker will use a Tor gateway to change the bitcoin wallet address, and redirect the payment into a personal account.

Unfortunately, there is little that you can do to prevent ransomware attacks against your company. Ransomware is difficult to detect, and is widely-spread over the Internet. It’s hiding in advertisements, emails, apps and more. You can, however, start building a strong cybersecurity culture to educate employees about how to stay safe. It’s critical that employees know what to avoid while browsing the Internet.

Remember that employee education and awareness is one of the best things you can dot protect your organization from ransomware. To get started, click here.