Many business owners, especially those who don’t account for cyber security, are vulnerable to ransomware attacks. Picture this: it is the morning of your software or application launch, but instead of setting appointments and troubleshooting customer concerns, your website is down, and you’re losing money.

Worse, you receive a ransom note—the attacker says they’ll restore access to your website if you give in to their demands. Ransomware attacks happen to all sorts of businesses—established or brand new, large or small, any enterprise can be vulnerable to them. Of particular note are Ransomware DDoS (RDDoS) attacks. Keep reading to learn more about this type of malicious online activity.

What are Ransomware DDoS Attacks?

Traditionally, attackers hold websites or networks hostage. They do this through ransomware, which is malicious software that encrypts files and renders them useless. These bugs could even damage data permanently. Meanwhile, distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks unleash bogus traffic on a website or network, swarming its servers and rendering them non-operational.

RDDoS attacks combine these two methods. In these, malicious actors would take down a network or system with a DDoS attack. Then, they will demand a ransom and threaten to launch more attacks unless they get what they want. Other actors might drip feed their attack. They could slowly take over portions of your network—deny access to desktops, for example, or remotely disable keyboards—until they enforce a full-scale takeover.

How Can I Deal With or Prevent RDDoS Attacks?

Many business owners don’t realise that you can be a target of ransomware DDoS attacks as long as you conduct business online. However, you can prepare for them and mitigate their effects on your network. Below are ways to do that:

1. Contact the ACSC – The Australian Cyber Security Centre has a hotline available 24/7. If you become the victim of a ransomware attack, you can call 1-300-CYBER1 (1300-292-371). Note that the ACSC can only help you to some extent, and highly sophisticated cyber-attacks are things you should prepare for proactively.
2. Do not give in to hackers’ demands – Do not pay the ransom or do as the hackers say. First of all, there’s no guarantee that they won’t hold your network hostage again after you have paid. They might even harass you again since they know you’ll pay for them to leave you alone. Moreover, malicious actors are good at covering their tracks online, so you aren’t likely to retrieve any amount you pay them.
3. Strengthen your network – Have a plan in place for increasing your network’s online security. You have to find and understand the vulnerabilities the attackers found and be able to fix them. You could also get a cyber-threat intelligence company to help you strengthen your system. These days, network security professionals say that hackers typically exploit VPNs or target systems that do not have two-factor authentication.
4. Hire network-as-a-service solutions – Beyond securing your network, you might want to consider long term solutions like paying for network-as-a-service solutions. These types of companies specialise in mitigating threats and optimising your network.

RDDoS attacks will keep increasing—today, criminals can even rent ransomware from third parties, eliminating the need for technical skills and knowledge in building attacks. If you want to keep your data safe online, you have to be a step ahead of malicious actors and be proactive in protecting your network.

FraudWatch is your partner in protecting your data and your brand online. We provide ransomware prevention services as part of our digital brand protection plans, including threat hunting, prevention, and more. Contact us today for enquiries!