The are no rules, restrictions, or regulations when it comes to a Ransomware attack. Ransomware attacks can happen to any company, regardless of their size. Last week, we saw one of the biggest fitness tracking companies, Garmin, face a ransomware attack that resulted in a multiple day outage. The cost to restore their services: cyber hackers were asking Garmin to pay $10 million.
The outage left millions of users unable to log, and sync, their fitness sessions. In addition to fitness devices, it also impacted pilots who were unable to download flight plans from the flyGarmin app.
As if having their website and mobile app down wasn’t bad enough, the outage left the company unable to receive calls, emails or online chats. Garmin made the decision to shut down its devices in their data center to help prevent their files from being encrypted from the Ransomware.
On Monday, July 27th, Garmin Connect services slowly began the process of syncing to devices, in addition to syncing to third-party apps. However, users are still unable to access historical data such as prior workouts or health stats, like heart rate.
Garmin provided a brief update stating that there was “no indication that this outage has affected your data, including activity, payment or other personal information.” The suspected ransomware is WastedLocker that infects computers, locking and encrypting files. Last year there was an estimated 187.9 million ransomware attacks worldwide.
With the right technology solutions in place, such as a Backup and Recovery solution, your business can defend itself against a cyber-attack. Do you have an emergency plan? If not, reach out to us today!
Source 1: Forbes, TechRadar, TechCrunch
