Computer criminals have started to launch large-scale ransomware attacks on UK schools extorting the victims for a massive ransomware payment sum. Read on to find out more about the reported incidents.
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UK Schools Targeted With Ransomware Malware
UK schools and academic institutions have been targeted with large-scale ransomware attack. The computer criminals request large sums of money up to 8 000 Great British Pounds to restore access to the compromised data by the malware according to the investigation reports. The campaigns have started after numerous security experts and vendors reported many times that the academic and government institutions should take more serious measures in defending themselves against all types of computer security attacks.
The Action Fraud National Fraud & Cyber Crime Reporting Centre has posted a detailed ransomware alert on the official page. According to their reports the hackers pose as government officials and persuade the victims into infecting themselves with dangerous ransomware viruses. The initial attack vectors employed by the hackers are through cold calling the education institutions and using social engineering tricks by posing as officials from the Department of Education. They ask for the personal email address and the phone number of the head teacher or the financial administrator. The reason for contacting them is said to be the sending of guidance forms to the head teachers. There are several case scenarios and they range from mental health assessments of the students to exam guidance.
The criminals claim that they need to send the necessary documentation directly to the head teacher and to to the generic school inbox because the contents of the data contains sensitive information. The malicious email messages contain the virus as a .zip archive file that poses as a Microsoft Excel or Word document. The ransomware is hidden in it and upon activation the infection process is started.
Similar attacks have been carried out by another hacker group that poses as representatives from the Department for Work and Pensions and various telecom providers.
How UK Schools And Other Institutions Can Protect Themselves
Educational and Academic institutions as well as other potential victims can protect themselves from dangerous ransomware attacks by following some of the security advise that we often state in our removal guides. Any unsolicited emails, messages or other types of carriers should not be trusted. Emails can easily be spoofed to appear as being sent from a legitimate institution. Offsite backups of all important information should be performed on a regular basis.
The best way to counter any dangerous malware attacks, including ransomware, is to use a trusted ant-spyware tool.
SpyHunter anti-malware tool will diagnose all current threats on the computer. By purchasing the full version, you will be able to remove all malware threats instantly. Additional information about SpyHunter / Help to uninstall SpyHunter
