Ransomware now taking aim at personal backups

[harlan4096]

Personal backups and home NAS are now in cybercriminals’ crosshairs. We break down exactly how hackers encrypt your data — and how you can stop them.
 
Today — March 31 — is World Backup Day. And every year, most people tell themselves, “I’ll get around to that tomorrow”. But even if you’re one of the responsible ones who regularly backs up their docs, photo archives, and the entire operating system — you’re still at risk. Why? Because ransomware has learned how to specifically target everyday users’ backups.

Why home users are in the crosshairs

In the not-so-distant past, ransomware was mostly a big business problem. Attackers focused on corporate servers and enterprise backups because freezing a major company’s production process or stealing all their information and customer databases usually meant a massive payout. We’ve seen plenty of those cases over the last few years. However, the “small-fry” market has become just as tempting for cybercriminals — and here’s why.

For starters, attacks are automated. Modern ransomware doesn’t need a human operating it manually. These programs scan the internet for vulnerable devices and, upon finding one, encrypt everything indiscriminately without the hacker getting involved. This means a single attacker can effortlessly hit thousands of home devices.

Second, because of this broad reach, the ransom demands have become more “affordable”. Regular users aren’t asked for millions, but “only” a few hundred or thousand dollars. Many people are willing to pay that amount without involving the police — especially when family archives, photos, medical records, banking documents, and other personal files are on the line, with no other copies in existence. And when you multiply those smaller payouts by thousands of victims, the hackers walk away with very tidy sums.

And finally, home devices are usually sitting ducks. While corporate networks are guarded really well, the average home router most likely runs on factory settings with “admin” as the password. Many people leave their network attached storage (NAS) wide open to the internet with zero protection. It’s low-hanging fruit.

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