{"id":24488,"date":"2025-06-03T09:55:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T00:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/fit\/?p=24488"},"modified":"2025-06-03T14:14:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T04:44:13","slug":"beware-of-ransomware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/fit\/2025\/06\/03\/beware-of-ransomware\/","title":{"rendered":"Beware of ransomware"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The team in IDS have put together some key information on how to identify and protect yourself from ransomware.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is ransomware?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ransomware is malware (malicious software) that encrypts files or restricts system access and operations until a ransom is paid. The potential impacts of ransomware can be devastating, including financial and data loss, operational disruption and reputational damage to the University.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How can attackers gain access to our systems?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sending phishing emails and tricking recipients into clicking malicious links.<\/li>\n<li>Using stolen credentials or trying different passwords for different logins (credential stuffing).<\/li>\n<li>Attacking insecure software to find weaknesses. Particularly software which has not received the most recent security updates.<\/li>\n<li>Trojan software which appears legitimate at face value but hides malware inside.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What do attackers target once they\u2019re inside our systems?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Scanning for valuable data, extracting personal information and credentials.<\/li>\n<li>Accessing other areas inside breached systems.<\/li>\n<li>Encrypting files making them inaccessible to us and then demanding a ransom.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>How can I protect myself and the University from Ransomware?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Be cautious of phishing emails.<\/li>\n<li>Use strong, unique passwords.<\/li>\n<li>Keep software updated.<\/li>\n<li>Manage privileged access with IDS.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you notice anything unusual, disconnect from the internet, contact the IDS Service Desk, and change your passwords from an uninfected computer.<\/p>\n<p>For more information, visit <u><a href=\"https:\/\/staff.flinders.edu.au\/workplace-support\/digital-services\/security\/security-threats\">How to avoid security threats &#8211; Flinders University Staff<\/a><\/u><\/p>\n<p>Please stay vigilant and help protect our university from ransomware attacks!<\/p>\n<p><em>Keeping You Safe is a monthly series offering staff practical cyber security tips to stay safe.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The team in IDS have put together some key information on how to identify and protect yourself from ransomware. What is ransomware? Ransomware is malware (malicious [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4182,"featured_media":24282,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55563,7718,59896],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-around-campus","category-information-and-digital-services","category-keeping-you-safe"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/fit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/fit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/fit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/fit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/fit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/fit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/fit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/fit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/fit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/fit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}