Seminar shows business how to fight increased threat of cybercrime

Need A Nerd CEO Wray Wilson says ransomware is becoming more prevalent. Photo / Warren Buckland

Cybercrime is on the increase in Hawke's Bay with many companies needing to change the way they operate to prevent falling victim.

Need A Nerd chief executive Wray Wilson said on average he is encountering one case a week of "nasty and insidious" ransomware in Hawke's Bay - a virus that encrypts all files until a monetary ransom is paid.

"You are staring down the barrel of the gun," he said.

The ransom was about $1000 and there was no option but to pay it or lose the information, he said.

"The act of paying a ransom itself is very difficult because they only deal in bitcoins - an online currency."

He said the bitcoin market was very hard to understand for the uninitiated and there was no guarantee data would be un-encrypted.

"They see themselves as honourable thieves in that most of it does get un-encrypted and you pay just the once.

"There was a case in the United States where a hospital had their data encrypted and they paid the ransom. They were told, actually that is not enough - you need to pay us $30,000. So they went ahead and paid."

He said the number of ransomware attacks were increasing and were typically caught via an email attachment.

Recent ransomware emails mimicked major companies such as Spark, offering a refund in a familiar and realistic-looking format before "off it goes" encrypting all files, which could take three days.

He said a daily back up - where a daily version of all files held was recorded externally - was adequate protection.

An external hard drive was not adequate because that would also be encrypted, as would a networked-mapped drive.

Businesses needed a "cold backup" that was not permanently connected and kept anti-virus software up to date.

ExportNZ Hawke's Bay is going into bat to fight cyber-crime, holding a seminar to alert businesses to its threats on November 16, sharing details on and how to protect digital assets and intellectual property, patents, and trademarks.

Protecting Your Business in the Digital Age is part of ExportNZ HB's Export IQ series and features five speakers: Ashwini Naidu, Financial Crime and Investigations, ASB; Kristen Ellis, Cyber Security, Marsh; Duncan Schaut, patents senior associate, Baldwins IP; and Simon Greatorex, managing director, Integra.

ExportNZ Hawke's Bay executive director Amanda Liddle organisations fell into two categories: those who have been hacked and those about to be.

"It must be remembered that cyber loss doesn't come just from some mysterious hacker, but can equally occur because of system failures or internal mistakes, so businesses need the full picture," she said.

"Intellectual property, patents, and trademarks is equally important to business but can be a confusing area of law, so it's timely to give business a broad update on the pitfalls and how to avoid them.

"It's vital that businesses have a basic understanding of the various rights, what they can do for you, and the threat they can pose if ignored."

The seminar will be at the Hawke's Bay Business Hub, Napier, on Wednesday, November 16 from 1-3pm. To register go to the ExportNZ HB website: hawkesbay.exportnz.org.nz