The attack was disguised as an Adobe Flash Player software update
PRAGUE, October 30, 2017 – GFI Software, a provider of security solutions for enterprise networks, pointed out, in connection with the latest “Bad Rabbit” ransomware attack, the need to strengthen centralized and automated application management in businesses and organizations. Current ransomware attacks can exploit weaknesses in insufficiently secured applications and the careless behavior of even a single user to encrypt data in enterprise networks.
The current attack by ransomware called “Bad Rabbit” once again affected a large number of organizations, demanding a ransom. The malware entered devices by disguising itself as a software update for the popular Flash Player tool. Once the update was launched, the ransomware made its way onto users’ computers and encrypted their data.
Adobe Flash Player is an application that regularly “tops” vulnerability rankings for the most vulnerable software – for example, according to the National Vulnerability Database, this application had the highest number (314) of vulnerabilities of any application in 2015, while four Adobe applications appeared among the five most vulnerable. According to this year’s GFI Software survey among Czech SMBs, IT administrators rank Adobe among the three software vendors with the highest risk of attack, alongside Microsoft and Google.
“There is no worse nightmare for any IT administrator than a user who is given the opportunity to decide on software updates,” said Zdeněk Bínek, responsible for sales of GFI Software solutions in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. “That is why we always recommend centralizing and automating software updates on all computers, thereby minimizing the risks of a computer network attack resulting from user ignorance or error. In larger organizations, proactive vulnerability scanning is also worthwhile, as it uses simulated attacks to test an organization’s ability to withstand real attacks.”
Network security breaches are very often caused by missing updates on the network, especially in third-party applications. One cause is the manual management of updates on each endpoint separately. Many businesses and organizations therefore use specialized tools that make it possible to perform updates centrally and automatically without intervention by the end user, minimizing security risks and relieving IT administrators of routine tasks.
Article author: ZEBR.ai editorial team
