As a managed service provider, or MSP, you have a lot on your plate. With a new cybersecurity or ransomware story making headlines seemingly every day, it can be difficult for you and your staff to stay on top of the latest stories to understand how to effectively protect you and your clients from these threats.
To make things a little easier for you, we’re highlighting some of the biggest ransomware stories of the past few weeks, to provide you with everything you need to know.
- Albany Hit with Ransomware Attack: According to reports, the attack impacted the Albany police department systems and patrol cars. In a statement, Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan confirmed the attack and stated that all employees were reporting to work as normal while they investigated the attack.
- Aluminum Plant Infected with Ransomware: Norsk Hydro, one of the worlds biggest aluminum producers, fell victim to a ransomware attack, causing a number of their plants to grind to a halt. With more than 35,000 employees in 40 countries, the Norwegian-based company had to switch many of their smelters into manual operation which caused production to stop in some factories while some of their power plants remained functionally normally.
- UK’s Police Federation Falls Victim to Ransomware: The Police Federation of England and Wales fell victim to a cyberattack in the beginning of March. The attack encrypted various servers and databases, making their data and emails unaccessible. "A number of our systems were affected and we are working hard with cyber experts to restore systems and ascertain the extent to which data has been made unavailable," explained the Police Federation.
Staying educated on the evolution of ransomware is just one piece of the puzzle for MSPs. The better informed MSPs are, the easier it is to educate their staff and clients as they work to keep ransomware from infiltrating their business.
According to Datto’s Global State of the Channel Ransomware Report, lack of cybersecurity training is a leading cause of successful ransomware attacks, with the top delivery method being phishing emails, followed by malicious websites, and clickbait. Educating clients should be an ongoing effort for every MSP. Recommending solutions that can help them recover from downtime caused by things like ransomware becomes much easier when clients have a solid understanding of how malware works and the impacts it can have on businesses.
For more statistics and best practices on the current landscape of ransomware, check out the full report today.
Ryan Weeks is chief information security officer at Datto Inc. Read more Datto blogs here.
