Backup your Biggest data file.. to fight ransomware

Ransom ware has been one of the biggest threats that is confronting IT users at present.  Many companies have found that their critical resources have been rendered useless with the ransomware encrypting the files and demanding a ransom for release of the decryption key.

It is however heartening to note that researchers at Kasparesky have recently found a way to decrypt files encrypted by CryptXXX.

The solution works if the user can produce one original unencrypted copy of a file that has been encrypted by the CryptXXX and the key can decrypt all other files of size equal to or less than the subject file used for finding the decryption key.

This means that if the file used for breaking the encryption is the largest file in the system, the entire set of encrypted files can be decrypted.

See Article in threatpost.com

Henceforth it is therefore a security strategy to find out which is the largest file in the system and take a backup in an offline environment.

Hopefuly, at least a few can find relief from this strategy…until a new updated version of CryptXXX with a work around hits the market.

Anyway, we need to thank Kasparesky for the solution…

Naavi

About Vijayashankar Na

Naavi is a veteran Cyber Law specialist in India and is presently working from Bangalore as an Information Assurance Consultant. Pioneered concepts such as ITA 2008 compliance, Naavi is also the founder of Cyber Law College, a virtual Cyber Law Education institution. He now has been focusing on the projects such as Secure Digital India and Cyber Insurance
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2 Responses to Backup your Biggest data file.. to fight ransomware

  1. Backup is one of the most essential and important control in IT/IS/Cyber Security.

    If a person has the will and motivation and discipline to back up the biggest file, s/he can as well backup the whole data. Why restrict to biggest file only?

    Further, biggest file may not be static, which may not change over time. Thus, dynamic biggest file also need to be backed-up periodically else the backed-up fill will not match with encrypted file. ;-))

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