How does ransomware get into major networks, such as schools or other large public agencies?
How does ransomware get into major networks, such as schools or other large public agencies?
I read an article about ransomware affecting the public transportation service in Kansas, and I wanted to ask how this can happen. Wikipedia says these are "are typically carried out using a Trojan, entering a system through, for example, a malicious attachment, embedded link in a phishing email, or a vulnerability in a network service," but how? Wouldn't someone still have to deliberately click a malicious link to install it? Wouldn't anyone working for such an agency be educated enough about these threats not to do so?
I wanted to ask in that community, but I was afraid this is such a basic question that I felt foolish posting it there. Does anyone know the exact process by which this typically can happen? I've seen how scammers can do this to individuals with low tech literacy by watching Kitboga, but what about these big agencies?
Edit: After reading some of the responses, it's made me realize why IT often wants to heavily restrict what you can do on a work PC, which is frustrating from an end user perspective, but if people are just clicking links in emails and not following basic internet safety, then damn.
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I remember reading an article by a penetration tester years ago at this point. His company is hired by all sorts of companies to test their network security etc. He described one client that thought it had the best network security money could buy. The pen tester took a novel approach (at that time) and put a benign Trojan on a bunch of random usb sticks then scattered them around the employee parking lot, outdoor smoking areas, etc. sure enough some of them started “phoning home” from inside the clients network fairly quickly.
My own employer has been the target of phishing and other attacks over the years. Our security team now contracts with a company that randomly sends out well crafted phishing emails to employees to see if they can detect it or if they click on a questionable link in the message. If an employee clicks on one of these then they are immediately told that they failed a test and are automatically signed up for a training session on spotting phishing and other scams.
If an employee clicks on one of these then they are immediately told that they failed a test and are automatically signed up for a training session on spotting phishing and other scams
My former employer did this (might have contracted with a similar company). The emails were really convincing, but I don't think most of us ever clicked them, though I remember other staff asking me if I thought it was a phishing email. I'd ask them what made them think that it was phishing so they'd learn. The last thing I wanted on top of everything else was the hassle that would come if our network got compromised, because we worked with so much private and sensitive client data.
But there was one co-worker who I've mentioned elsewhere in this thread who would click on something in the message almost every time. She took the mandatory training so many times, but it never stuck for some reason. I was always amazed she kept her job.
Yeah, I don’t think too many people click on those “educational” phishing emails but it does happen once in a while. We have a slack channel where people can contact the security team and I do regularly see people asking about suspicious emails. They never admit if they’re test emails but always thank folks for reporting them.
It was a little bit different at my employer. If we correctly reported something as phishing, if it was a test, we'd get a message back saying that we correctly identified the message along with more tips about identifying phishing.
At my previous place of employment I would report Phish on any and all spam and get lectures about reporting Phish on all my spam. Like, how am I supposed to know if you initiated the fuckin email or if a bad actor outside did? Can you give me some pointers on how to tell if it's your spam or someone else's? My current employer just adds it to the block list without acting like a douche lol