FBI Asks Ransomware Victims to Come Forward and Share their Experiences

As the FBI continues to work tirelessly in an effort to fight the latest ransomware epidemic, they’re now calling on victims of ransomware attacks to come forward promptly and share the details of their story.

The FBI claims to be having a difficult time fully grasping the depth of this ransomware epidemic due in part to the victim’s reticence in coming forward. This is due to many reasons, including: concerns over privacy, business reputation, regulatory data breach reporting requirements, and even out of sheer embarrassment.  

The FBI is still urging victims to come forward and report these ransomware incidents regardless of the outcome, in order to help provide law enforcement with a better understanding on the ransomware threat. By knowing more information about the victims and their experience with ransomware, the FBI will be better able to determine who’s actually behind these malicious attacks and how they are targeting their victims.

The FBI is asking for victims to come forward and share this information:

• Date of the Infection
• Ransomware Variant- identified on the ransom page or by the encrypted file extension
• Victim Company Information- industry type, business size, etc.…
• How the Infection Occurred- link in email, browsing the Internet, etc.…
• Requested Ransom Amount
• Actor’s Bitcoin Wallet Address- may be listed on the ransom page
• Ransom Amount Paid- if any
• Overall Losses Associated with a Ransomware Infection- including the ransom amount
• Victim Impact Statement

This plea from the FBI is evidence that we’re battling against an incredibly destructible force that’s becoming a serious threat in the enterprise market.

NNT’s CTO advises, “A two-pronged approach is the only way to defend against ransomware attacks- get layered defenses in place, but also back it up with real-time host intrusion detection through File Integrity Monitoring, ensuring that if a cyber-attack proves successful, at the very least you get to know about it.”

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