- A strategy based on fear and urgency
Exploiting fear: Victims suddenly find themselves deprived of their work tools. The messages displayed after the infection aim to reinforce panic.
Creating a sense of urgency: Limiting the reaction time prevents a calm analysis of the situation. The goal is to push the victim to pay before they have time to seek technical or legal assistance.
Use of aggressive messages and threats: The notes are deliberately intimidating, such as “threats to disclose sensitive data, permanent destruction of files, increased ransom if the victim delays payment.”
2. Encryption: the ransomware’s main weapon
The basic principle of ransomware relies on encryption. Once the malware is executed:
– it scans important directories,
– encrypts files using algorithms that cannot be broken without the private key,
– deletes or replaces local backups,
– displays a ransom message.
3. Solutions to reduce the impact of an attack
– Regular and reliable backups: Keep copies of data offline or in a secure environment.
– Employee training and awareness.
– Network segmentation.
– Incident response planning.
(purestorage.com)
(cybersecurite-management.fr)