Local companies take precautions to avoid becoming victims of next ransomware attack

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- After another round of ransomware attacks hitting the headlines, a local IT support company is encouraging companies – big and small – to take precautions.

Advanced Business Solutions (ABS) is a Louisville-based company that provides IT support and has experience helping victims of cyberattacks rebuild.

“I've been here 16 years and ransomware was not a thing when I started,” said John Clark, the vice president of business development with ABS. “There's definitely been an increase. I believe, the experts predict that it's going to be a $20 billion industry by the end of this year.”

Clark says hackers will “hibernate” and wait to attack a company for the maximum impact.

“So maximum impact is every one of your computers, servers, even sometimes your cloud services have been compromised. You’re unable to use them until you give them the ransom,” Clark said.

Several ransomware attacks have been reported in 2021 already. JBS and Colonial Pipeline both dished out millions of dollars to hackers in order to release their companies.

Kaseya, an international software company with a U.S. headquarters in Miami, spent the holiday weekend working around the clock to handle a sophisticated cyberattack. According to the company’s website, the servers should be up and running again by Tuesday evening. It is believed the attack was localized to fewer than 60 customers that use this software, but 1,500 downstream businesses were also impacted.

CYBERWARE ATTACKS ABS.jpeg — ABS IT firm.

“There's a common misconception that I'm not big enough, my brand is not visible enough, I'm never going to be a victim. For anyone that's making a living in a company – holding your company ransom is valuable. So they're going to find the vulnerabilities. They're going to phish your users. They're going to find their way in. And no matter if you can give them $10,000 or a million, they're going to know what you can afford to pay. And that's what they're going to ask,” said Clark.

ABS suggests the best line of defense is to regularly perform a cyber security assessment, identify any risks, eliminate any vulnerabilities, and always be on alert.

“Train your end users. They're the ones that can stop the phishing. If they know what they're looking for they won't click on it. But it’s always changing, so your company’s security posture should change with that,” he said.