The advance of ransomware worries corporations and end users alike. Once it finds its place on the computer, the victim is caught between a rock and a hard place, with the extreme need to recover their data while not giving in to these virtual kidnappers. The No More Ransom initiative, created with the support of companies such as Intel and Kaspersky, offers users (affected or not) different resources and suggestions to prevent and/or combat ransomware infections.
The first recommendation we hear when faced with ransomware is not to pay. If we do, the only thing achieved is confirming that this attack method works, and the worst part is that there is no guarantee whatsoever that the attacker will keep their word. The problem behind not paying is that ransomware bets on the absence of redundancies. General question: Do you have your backups up to date? Don't worry, I know the answer is "no" for most cases. Now, let's take that situation to government agencies, schools, hospitals, and nonprofit organizations. The impact of ransomware multiplies when it touches computers in places like those, because it no longer affects a single user, but hundreds, or even thousands of patients-clients-students-taxpayers. The threat is ever greater, and it leads to different levels of action, such as the No More Ransom portal.
Kaspersky, Intel, Europol's cybercrime division, and the Dutch police appear as the four main promoters of this initiative, which seeks to inform, educate, and distribute resources to users in order to fight the many ransomware variants wreaking havoc around the globe. CryptoLocker, CTB-Locker and TeslaCrypt are some of the names mentioned on the portal, whose general function is divided into two: On the one hand, it allows sending samples of encrypted files along with the text file or email address in the ransom demand, to identify the type of ransomware, and if available, deliver a tool that can decrypt the affected data. On the other hand, we find a basic list of suggestions (whose first entry is "Backup! Backup! Backup!"), and a range of products from both Kaspersky and Intel Security.
In time, No More Ransom is expected to add additional tools to decrypt ransomware, but it's important to remember that Kaspersky and Intel are not the only ones in this game. Bitdefender offers for free its own anti-ransomware solution, and the same goes for the beta edition of the Malwarebytes Anti-Ransomware module. Distrust, back up, protect yourself, and don't let your guard down.
