Bad News about Zepto Ransomware

It used to be some kid in a basement having fun by seeing who or where he could hack into some government agency. Now, as the criminal element enters the fray, it is looking to make money. Originally the criminals were stealing data, like credit card numbers or Social Security account information. Now a quick way to make a buck or bitcoin is by employing ransomware that locks your data up, and they will "sell" you the encryption code so that you can once again have access to your data, like customer information, billing, etc.

The Seattle Times ran this article, News isn’t good on retrieving files encrypted by Zepto, last Saturday. This is only one type of ransomware, and if and when there is a fix or preventive measure in place, I'm sure that the cybercriminals will move on and develop some new form of ransomware. They have the advantage of the initiative.

Today I'm in Boise, Idaho, helping the Idaho Office of Emergency Management with a cybersecurity workshop. Later in the day I'll be facilitating a discussion on two scenarios. One of them postulates a coordinated ransomware attack on businesses in the region. How will you react? As a business? As a government? As a law enforcement agency? 

Today there are no easy answers, and you can't say, "It won't happen." It is happening every day, somewhere in your community.