Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
ISSN: 2455-5703
Abstract
The cyber attack technology is changing in a drastic manner. The attacks are increasing in a higher rate. The attacks are not
pertaining to a particular individual, but also many organizations and institutions are also involved. To prevent from these types
of attacks, lot of security measures are implemented by several organizations. They put into practice various security levels to
protect from these attacks. The most ferocious attack now a days is considered to be Ransomware. This paper explains the
history and the evolution of ransomware. Also it discusses about why encryption was chosen for ransomware attack. In this
paper the author explains about how to avert ransomware and to respond to the attack.
Keywords- Ransomware, Cyber Attack, Internet of Things, Cybercriminals, Encryption
I. INTRODUCTION
Ransomware is making heavy havoc from the time it was first discovered in the year 2000 [1]. It is considered to be a serious
threat not only to many organizations, but also to institutions [2]. It can be in any form, say in the form of malicious code, or may
be worms, or viruses. Few ransomware appears to destroy the user’s data from their computer. As the technology booms, the
threat to computer system also rises. The field of Internet of Things (IoT) [3] is now connecting people with various devices.
Once people of connected to those devices they are exposed to attacks too. Ransomware is similar to a worm. It will not allow
the users to access their system, either the screen will be locked or the files of the user will be encrypted. After this they will
demand a huge ransom from the user. It is very difficult to decrypt a ransomware affected file. Initially they will enter an
organizations system and will start encrypting their important files. After this they will ask for ransom to be paid for decrypting
the affected files. Ransomware will be using assorted type of techniques to attack the victim.
V. ATTACKS IN A HOSPITAL
There are number of hospitals being attacked with ransomware. These kinds of attacks make the hospital authorities to think
about their systems security. The attackers will disable the emails of hospitals, there by affecting the scheduling details of
patients to be attended and other related functions [11]. The attackers will also reschedule the surgery dates to be performed to
the patients. The hospital management should keep their internet oriented systems highly secured. They should identify the
attacks quickly and should respond to that as early as possible. They should keep away from opening unwanted emails. They
should not click the links which are not known to them. The hospital people must take regular backups of their system data.
Figure 2 shows the sample ransomware attack in a hospital.
VI. CONCLUSION
Always be proactive. The users in the organization and in any institutions must be taught about ransomware. They should be
exposed to basic attacks and how to prevent it on their own to reduce the amount of attack. The users should be instructed not to
open any untrusted links which they receive in their email. The organizations must implement few security measures for these
types of attacks. Proper updating in their software must be carried out.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author acknowledges the support and encouragement by the Management, Principal and Director of Computer Applications
department, towards this work.
REFERENCE
[1] RansomwarePast, Present, and Future Technical Marketing Team, TrendLabs, https://documents.trendmicro.com/assets/wp/wp-ransomware-past-present-
and-future.pdf
[2] Stephen Cobb, “RANSOMWARE: an enterprise perspective”, Ransomware white paper, 2018
[3] Nadeem Shah, Mohammed Farik, “Ransomware - Threats, Vulnerabilities And Recommendations”, International Journal of Scientific and Technology
Research Vol 6, No 06, 2017
[4] TrendLabs.(2017).Threat Encyclopedia.“Ransomware.”Last accessed on 20 March 2017,
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[7] Cris Pantanilla. (12 April 2012). TrendLabs Security Intelligence Blog. “Ransomware Takes MBR Hostage.” Last accessed on 20 March 2017,
http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/ransomware-takes-mbr-hostage/.
[8] Kevin Savage, Peter Coogan, Hon Lau, “The evolution of ransomware”, version 1.0, Symantec, August 2015
[9] Cassius Puodzius, “How encryption molded crypto-ransomware”, 2016
[10] https://www.kaspersky.co.in/resource-center/threats/how-to-prevent-ransomware
[11] Ransomware Attack Disrupts Medical Care in 3 Alabama Hospitals, 2019,
Available online: https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/au/security/news/cybercrime-and-digital-threats/ransomware-attack-disrupts-medical-care-in-3-
alabama-hospitals