Ransomware is one of the biggest threats to businesses today, and with new attacks hitting the news on a daily basis, the risk can seem overwhelming. But what actually is ransomware, and how can businesses protect themselves? In this series, we will take an in-depth look at ransomware, highlighting specific methods of attack such as email compromise, vulnerabilities and the Remote Desktop Protocol, delving into supply chain attacks, and giving advice on how businesses can mitigate the risk.

What is ransomware?

Ransomware is a type of cyberattack that seeks to encrypt, prohibit or severely restrict access to the victim’s data, device or entire systems until ransom demands have been met and the user’s data is restored. The damage caused can be severe and widespread. The largest ransomware attack to date – WannaCry – affected more than 230,000 computers across 150 different countries back in 2017.