61% of users were unable to fully recover data that was destroyed after the computer was infected by malicious software
During a malware attack, the impact on data can be devastating. Even worse, no one can guarantee that we can get back this valuable information.
According to the data for European countries from the global study conducted by B2B International and Kaspersky Lab, four out of ten respondents were able to recover all the data they lost during a malware attack. Conversely, six out of ten lost at least some of their information forever.
One in five attacks successfully results in the theft or corruption of confidential data. For 14% of victims, the data loss was irreversible. 47% were able to restore only a portion of the lost data. Moreover, the research showed that for 59% of respondents, the value of the data is far greater than the value of the computer on which it is stored. Users are willing to pay for data recovery, with one in ten hiring a specialist to try to recover the lost bytes.
However, the data recovery process often starts quite slowly when it is not possible to restore all the data. For example, a specialist is unable to do anything if the user's computer has been infected by the encryptor, a malicious program that encrypts the user's files. To decrypt these files, a unique key is required, and the only way for the victim to obtain the key is to confront the criminals, who usually demand ransom. One of the most dangerous samples of this type of malware is Seftad. A successful attack by Seftad can encrypt not only the user's photos and videos, but also the master boot record. It completely blocks access to the computer and can irreparably destroy all programs on the hard drive.
Is there a way to prevent the loss of critical information due to malicious attacks? Of course there are many ways, including the extreme measure of not storing valuable data on digital devices. However, only two of them are truly viable – the regular back-up of files and a reliable protection solution.
Source: protothema.gr
