How Cyberattackers Target Studio Owners & Wedding Photos for Ransom?
There has been a sharp increase in the number of ransomware attacks on many organizations since the pandemic began and with this, the ransomware kitty has also witnessed a spike. These days, hackers seem to be more focussed on their targets. Moving away from ‘spray and pray’ (generalized attacks), they are aiming at lucrative targets to earn more coin.
Today, it may seem to be a slice out of a new age, where hapless wedding photographers and videographers are also at the receiving end of malicious and concerted malware attacks.
The new target for Hackers
In Kerala, India, studio owners got the shock of their life when they could not open the files saved in their systems. One of the studio owners lost videos of four recent weddings which he had recorded for clients and he was scared of the prospect of telling his clients, who were eagerly waiting to get their wedding videos.
Many studio owners faced the malware attack and most of them were unaware that it was a cyberattack until they received demands for ransom. They had difficulty in accessing the files and there was an unknown extension of ‘.kasp’ in every file. Usually, decryption is not possible as the files are locked using mathematical keys known only to the attackers.
Ransomware Attacks
A photographer’s skills lie in capturing great moments that can last forever, rather than data security. While IT firms, airports, hospitals, etc are the usual targets of ransomware attacks, studios have become a new target for the hackers. The studios have already been facing huge losses due to the cyberattacks and trust is the last thing they can compromise.
The number of ransomware attacks has been on the higher side, during COVID. However, the common investigation has been going on against such ransomware attacks, but the cyber wing of the police department has been unable to retrieve the data and files of these studio owners.
The hackers target institutions like hospitals or airports that require decryption of files. They send malware everywhere using bots and studios might be unintended targets, which the hackers might not be interested in.
Precautions & Safety Measures
The experts at Neumetric, a cybersecurity services, consulting & products Organization, believe that lack of due care on part of users makes them vulnerable to such attacks. Delay in updating operating systems, downloading unnecessary files, or lack of anti-virus software are reasons that make a system vulnerable. It is important to keep a backup of all documents. Although some malware can be decrypted, but not before the nature of malware is deciphered. With the recent wave of attacks, studio-owners need to gear up to ensure requisite protection from cyberattacks in the future.
Neumetric can help you reduce your security cost without compromising your security posture. Our years of in-depth experience in handling security for Organizations of all sizes & in multiple industries make it easier for us to quickly execute cost-cutting activities that do not bring value to you, while you continue focusing on the Business objectives of the Organization.
