Ransomware assaults have increased in frequency in recent years, and they are now becoming more common. Many people have suffered significant losses as a result of the attacks. Ransomware assaults have grown in popularity, owing to their ease of propagation.
The Walcott ransomware assault was a well-known ransomware campaign that swept the globe. The first question you ask yourself when such an assault occurs is how much the ransom is. For example, how much did Walcott spend in response to the Ransomware attack? You question yourself, attempting to determine whether the ransom was manageable. The full scope of Walcott’s ransomware attack is covered in this post.
The Ransomware Attack on Walcott
The first ransomware attack occurred on June 13th, 2019. The attack was significant since it disabled the district’s computer systems, preventing teachers from retrieving data. The fact that the schools are small and have not invested in IT and computer security must have prompted the Walcott ransomware attack.
On September 4th, the second attack occurred, and Walcott public schools were able to detect some suspicious activity within the district’s computer networks. As a result, the computer system was shut down as a precaution against another major attack. Following the ransomware incident in June, the school administration was now on high alert for whatever was going on online.
The region’s leaders banded together to address the problem, which had a far-reaching impact. Students’, parents’, and teachers’ personal information was all at risk. Fortunately, the attackers had not shared or transmitted any of the schools’ critical data by the time the ransomware attack was discovered. Furthermore, the schools were reopening, which meant there were no supplies available to welcome students and conduct the new semester.
By encrypting the school’s data, the attackers were able to shut out the teachers and the school as a whole. The assailants taking Walcott hostage requested a ransom payment in exchange for the data and access to the system. The ransom was less than $10000, and the authorities advised Walcott against paying it, stating that paying for ransom is not a wise habit.
The following are some of the disadvantages and hazards of paying the ransom to hackers.
- Any ransom payment sent to a criminal transmitter is discouraged by the United States authorities.
- The return of data and access to the system is not always guaranteed when a ransom is paid. Typically, the ransomware attacker will accept the ransom payment but fail to release data or provide access to data. Without disclosing the data, the attacker may proceed to demand more money.
- The hacking industry is aided by ransom payments. Cybercriminals will have an easy time obtaining donations from the general population since they are confident that hacking into a system and holding a corporation or organisation hostage generates money for them.
- Furthermore, paying the ransom without addressing the vulnerability that exposed the institution to the ransomware assault will be in vain, since hackers scanning for holes may seek to use them in the future.
However, because the schools did not have a backup of their data, they had to do everything they could to recover it. The Walcott school district has no other options due to a lack of backup. If the teachers had to rework their lesson plans and replace any lost materials. However, this could be inconvenient because redoing the process would take a long time, and it will be frustrating to restart the institutions’ operations from begin.
As a result, the Walcott district schools were divided between paying the ransomware attacker and continuing to operate. Despite the fact that the assault was investigated by a cybersecurity task team. Classes went on as usual, however most of the necessary resources were unavailable.
Parents were also advised to utilise the telephone as their primary mode of communication and to refrain from sending emails until the situation had been addressed and the school was no longer in danger. When the Walcott town council approved for the school to pay the $9999 ransom, it was such a relief. This would then indicate how to return to normalcy.
Conclusion
Ransomware attacks are extremely damaging to an institution’s or organization’s operations. Its successful dissemination via a company’s computer system can cripple all of the company’s operations. As a result, it’s a good idea to take the appropriate precautions to avoid ransomware attacks.
