What to do when ransomware attacks small business: Kathy Sundstrom

He thought cyberattacks only happened to big business, then his was hit.

When a ransomware attack makes a news headline, it normally involves a big corporation.

And there certainly have been enough of these in the past fortnight.

But this week I spoke to a farmer in rural NSW. The number of his employees? One.

Let’s call him Dave.

Dave explained he and his wife bought a block of land in NSW so they could farm a small herd of cattle.

One May morning, Dave opened his computer screen and found a message.

“It said that to access my files I had to pay US$990,” Dave said.

His system was locked and there was no way he could get beyond this message.

Kathy Sundstrom is a former Sunshine Coast Daily journalist who now works at identity and cyber support service IDCARE. Picture: Patrick Woods.

Dave is almost certain an app he downloaded from a website (and not an official app store) was responsible for the incident.

Dave didn’t have the finances to pay a computer genius to attempt to decrypt it, and he definitely didn’t have the nearly $1000 to give a hacker.

Thankfully, Dave didn’t believe he had too much data stored on his computer, so he simply wiped it clean and gave up any hope of accessing his previous information.

He thought he had “dodged a bullet”. What he didn’t realise was he was still in the firing line.

A few weeks later Dave discovered the 30 passwords he had saved on his computer had been accessed by the hackers and they had been using his details to go on a mini shopping spree.

He also started receiving letters in the mail from banks about new debit cards and he realised the hackers had accessed his email account, which included emails that had his driver licence details attached.

“I never delete my emails, and after 10 years, there is a lot of stuff in there, like your old passport that you send to your wife, or your resume.

“It was like a second wave that came through, with all these bank cards that were being sent to me.”

That is why he called IDCARE, for personalised support on how to fix the problem.

Prior to this incident, Dave’s cybersecurity extended to a free antivirus he had downloaded. He didn’t have two-factor authentication set up on his accounts.

“I thought ransomware would only be costly for a large business, I didn’t think the repercussions for me would be that great. I didn’t perceive it as a threat,” he said.

There are a few key lessons we can learn from Dave’s experience:

• Ransomware attacks can happen to anyone.

• Always set up two-factor authentication on your accounts.

• Change your passwords regularly

• Be very careful downloading an app from a website, there is often a reason they haven’t been able to make it to the Apple app store or Google Play.

• Delete old emails, particularly if you sent an email with a driver licence or resume attached.

Kathy Sundstrom is a former Sunshine Coast Daily journalist who now works at identity and cyber support service IDCARE.