Ransomware: An Epidemic for the Digital Age

Imagine your most secret and sensitive data, taken from you, held hostage, payment demanded for its safe return. This is ransomware, it is the most damaging digital attack of our lifetime and currently in use by modern terrorist organizations around the world. It is used to intimidate you, your business, and even our country in profit fueled extortion attacks.

At this very moment, a patient and well financed criminal is seeking new and innovative ways to exploit your system for vulnerabilities, infiltrate your network, and steal your money. Remote work means remote vulnerabilities, our cloud-based network means our data is complex and scattered. As this slows our response capacity ransomware will become faster in proportion, and even more effective in devastating your businesses as it searches for data to exchange for profit. A 2023 study discovered that 87% of organizations have been a target of ransomware. Large organizations, with their increased complexity offer a multitude of attack points. Small businesses, lacking resources to protect themselves, are exploited in-mass through organized and systematic attacks. No one is safe.

Fortunately, there are a handful of simple processes that your organization can implement today which are proven to significantly reduce your overall risk. In this talk we will evaluate the statistical effectiveness of simple security procedures that can be used in your organization, with your budget, even if that is $0. To discover its possible evolutionary path, we will uncover the history of ransomware, dissect the current state of threats, and plot its most likely outcome. You will learn the inexpensive, but effective strategy for protecting yourself, have a better understanding of the risks today, and start to develop the tactics to defend yourself tomorrow.