Recent malware threats illustrate severity of issue

Malware is one of the biggest scourges on the digital world in the modern day. There are numerous threats that have made themselves known over the last few years, infecting companies and private users alike with malicious code designed to extort money and steal information.

Criminal programs are continuing to evolve. New and adapted campaigns are appearing every day and users need to be prepared with layered security strategies that will guard against the greatest number of risks.

Ransomware strain making people cry
A new strain of malicious program has been appearing more frequently as of late. Onion, a ransomware variant, has been found to demand Bitcoin-based payments within a short time frame, threatening those who do not comply with the loss of all of their information permanently. Onion uses the infamous Tor network, which has not played host to ransomware in the past.

“Ransomware has become one of the most pernicious and prevalent types of malware over the last couple of years, evolving from simple screen blockers to the advanced pieces of software we see today, leveraging the power of the Tor network and elliptic curve cryptography to evade detection,” wrote International Business Times contributor David Gilbert.

Free car inspection offer infecting Koreans with new form of malware
A new malware campaign is targeting an unnamed Korean organization by exploiting a commonly-targeting weakness in ActiveX. The program, known as Baccamun​, is masquerading as an internal offer for a free car inspection, instead opening a backdoor for hackers on Windows PCs.

It is thought that those behind this scam are operating out of Eastern Asia and are multi-lingual, as Korean, Japanese, and Chinese characters have been linked to the files contained in the malware.

‘Operation Emmental’ specifically targeting banks
There are, of course, some industries that are more likely to be targeted due to the nature of their information. The financial sector is of particular interest to cyber criminals, as evidenced by the new strain of malware dubbed Operation Emmental, making appearances primarily in Europe.

“The Operation Emmental attacks are spread using phishing emails which masquerade as being sent from a reputed online retailer,” International Business Times posted on its website. “These emails contain malware-infested links which users are prompted to click. If victims do click on the link, the malware gets downloaded to users’ computers/mobile devices.”

Reboot to restore should be cornerstone of security plans
It is generally accepted that layered security is the best route to go for digital protection. But while it is important to be diverse, there are certain tools that should always been put in place – Faronics Deep Freeze being one of them.

Something that many companies fail to realize is that many computer issues can be solved with a reboot. The problem with this is that all settings are reset in the process. But with Deep Freeze, a system snapshot can be periodically taken of critical settings. Then, when a malware or ransomware infection occurs, workers can open Deep Freeze and perform a reboot to restore all on their own. This will not only remedy the situation, but it will do so in a way that leaves IT staffers free to concern themselves with other tasks. There is a growing list of responsibilities that are being placed on the shoulders of in-house tech workers, and any way in which they can be alleviated can enable them to focus their efforts elsewhere.

The modern employee is one that is increasingly skilled at performing his or her own information technology operations. Implementing company-wide use of Deep Freeze is one way to capitalize on this evolution.