Businesses hit by 'ransomware', losing tens of millions of dollars

Ransomware - a threat to businesses

Ransomware will continue to be a major threat in 2025 for individuals and businesses of all sizes.

Fourlis Group - the management and operation unit of IKEA brand stores in Greece, Cyprus, Romania and Bulgaria confirmed that they were attacked by a type of ransomware. According to estimates, the damage caused by this malware attack is 22.8 million USD.

Fourlis Group was attacked before Black Friday 2024, and in December 2024, the company issued a statement about the technical disruption of IKEA online stores due to 'malicious external attacks'.

Fourlis also manages and operates other major brands such as Intersport, Foot Locker, and Holland & Barrett stores, but the attack was primarily aimed at IKEA. IKEA is a very famous and popular home and furniture brand worldwide.

Ransomware causes great damage to businesses. (Photo: Linh Doan)

In the same situation, Sensata Technologies (Sensata) was also attacked by ransomware in early April, encrypting data, causing the company's network and operations to be disrupted. A report sent by Sensata to the US Securities and Exchange Commission said that all activities of sending, receiving and managing production were affected.

Sensata Technologies is an industrial technology company that develops, manufactures and sells a wide range of sensors and sensor-rich solutions, as well as electrical protection systems and components. Sensata's annual revenue is expected to reach USD 4 billion (2023).

Vietnamese users and businesses are targets of Ransomware

Ransomware is no longer a 'far-fetched' thing internationally. In fact, ransomware malware has 'entered' Vietnam in recent years and is increasingly attacking both individuals and businesses.

Many large enterprises have become victims of ransomware such as PVOIL, Vietnam Post or VnDirect, causing huge losses. Most recently, CMC Technology Group has also been added to this list of victims.

A report by the National Cyber ​​Security Association shows that 14.59% of 5,000 organizations and businesses participating in the 2024 survey said they had been attacked with ransomware.

Mr. Adrian Hia, Managing Director of Asia-Pacific at Kaspersky, said that the unit recorded more than 29,200 ransomware attacks targeting Vietnamese businesses in 2024. Accordingly, there are an average of 80 ransomware attacks per day in Vietnam.

Small businesses and sole proprietors can take steps to avoid ransomware. (Photo: Linh Doan)

Mr. Ngo Tran Vu, Director of NTS Security, shared that user errors are always the key weakness for hackers to exploit to bring ransomware into the corporate network. Protection with centralized management policies is not enough, employees need to be regularly trained to recognize the harmful risks from the habits of using the corporate network.

“Small-sized businesses such as family businesses and companies with less than 10 employees often do not focus on information security solutions and do not have dedicated IT security personnel, making them easy targets for Ransomware. Business data, contract information and other sensitive data can be captured by malware and held for ransom,” said Mr. Vu.

According to Mr. Vu, small businesses and family businesses can apply some of the following methods to prevent ransomware.

Firstly, using new generation network security solutions, comprehensive protection, minimizing risks from malware, online fraud (phishing) to exploiting vulnerabilities from software installed on computers (Windows / Mac).

Second, do not use pirated or cracked software. Malicious code can be embedded in the installation file by hackers.

Third, regularly back up important data into versions and save data to external hard drives as well as to the 'cloud'. Regularly scan for malware with security software. Always scan files when downloading from the Internet (email, messaging programs such as Messenger, Telegram, Zalo ...). Regularly update the latest patches of Windows, Microsoft Office as well as popular software installed on the device such as WinRAR.

BAO LINH

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/doanh-nghiep-bi-ma-doc-tong-tien-thiet-hai-ca-chuc-trieu-usd-ar939601.html