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Travelex Ransomware: Lesson learnt to update to MSSPs
2 mins read
Right on the cusp of a new year and decade, Travelex made headlines around the world as the subject of a sophisticated ransomware attack. In this blog, Avinash Prasad looks at how you can avoid finding yourself in a similar situation.
Picture this dreaded scene: you wake up one day, turn on your computer and you see a pop-up message. All of your data has been encrypted. You can’t access any of your work or personal files, your messages, and so on. Your machine has been rendered essentially useless, unless and until you send funds via a highly complex route to an untraceable account of a mystery person – someone who is holding you and your life to ransom.
Reports state that this ransomware is available for purchase online, ready to be deployed by cybercriminals targeting large businesses in the hope of a significant ransom pay out. Whether or not these particular cybercriminals were successful in achieving the $6m they demanded from Travelex is unclear. But the devastating effects of this attack reinforce the significant risks posed by increasingly powerful malware and ransomware today. So how can businesses protect themselves to avoid becoming the next major victim? Stay clean and stay updatedThe threat in question is a particularly sophisticated strain, the Sodinokibi Windows ransomware.

This means deploying both detection and predictive tools and red-teaming services to gain a complete overview of your defences and addressing any weaknesses as soon as they are uncovered. Companies should make this switch as part of their ongoing digital transformation efforts. You’re not aloneThe “incident response” mindset is getting outdated and instead, companies must implement “continuous response” thinking.

This would be a hefty job for a business to tackle on its own, especially at the time of a highly stressful and evolving crisis such as the crippling ransomware attack Travelex is currently facing. It’s hard to overstate the impact this attack is having on Travelex’s business, its partners and its customers. The cost of any such breach stretches to millions with only a few hours of impact. These types of attacks are becoming more frequent, more serious and more damaging. No business can hope to have a 100% effective security strategy in the modern era, but a strategic mix of proactive and reactive strategies and well-chosen security partners will give any organisation the best possible fighting chance of averting and repelling threats. As we head into a new year and a new decade, take a look at our top 5 blogs of 2019.If the worst happens, MSSPs also support businesses with emergency response to help mitigate threats, including services like emergency helps desks and proactive patching of antivirus systems, servers and desktops.
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