Ransomware.

This is malware (aka malicious software) that is designed to deny access to one’s computer or data system unless or until a sum of money is paid the hacker.  (That’s the “ransom” in ransomware.)

One can get  infected by ransomware by visiting an infected website, but most often, we are overtaken by clicking on or opening phishing eMails.  And, to be honest, succumbing to phishing eMail requires one to have been asleep at the switch.

Most of these missives are not personally addressed to the recipient- and Dear customer or user is NOT a personal identifier.  More importantly the links in that eMail (purported to be from the IRS, Fidelity, the Social Security Administration, or whomever) are not from those sites.  (Here’s a trick- before you read an eMail that is not from your friend, hit reply and check to see from where the mail is coming.  When it says irs.gotcha.com, you should easily recognize that it’s not the IRS.  Yes, this does mean you should NEVER click on a link in one of those eMails.) Or, the vernacular (grammar and language) is clearly not from an English speaking professional.

(There is another sophisticated method to suck us in.  These hackers have our phone numbers.  And, they send us a text, purporting to be our boss or our administrator, saying they need some information right now.  Which then lets them take over your computer network.)

In a word- should you have succumbed to their wiles, recovery is a bitch.  And, just because you pay the ransom does not guarantee the slimeball will release your data.  (After all, you have no clue who or what that entity is- be it Russia, Eastern Europe, Iran, or your next-door neighbor. [Sorry, it is NOT the 400 pound fat guy TheDonald wants you to believe hacked our election systems.])

And, so far this year alone, some 50 municipalities (and countless companies and individuals) have suffered these attacks.  Baltimore (MD), Laredo (TX), Lake City (FL), and Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital (LA, CA) are but a few who’ve been attacked. (Just the other day, Premier Family Medicine was hit with ransomware, and left 320K patients with their health data at risk.) The attackers love to pick on the smaller cash-strapped local governments who are probably too lazy to run any protection- or train their staff how not to succumb to the attacks.

Which brings up the 2020 elections.  Despite Moscow Mitch and TheDonald and their malarkey about cybersecurity, the National Security Agency (Ann Neuberger, the directory of the Cybersecurity Directorate)  knows that trolls behind ransomware are going to be targeting election records and registration databases. Their goal would be to lock up voter registration data, demand a ransom- and, then, perhaps release the data.  But, if they don’t release the data until mid-day on election day, many folks will be disenfranchised.  (Even the head of Cybersecurity at Homeland Security, Chris Krebs, knows this. He wants the 8000 election districts to become secure.)

It’s worse!  Because most election offices have not (nor are they planning to) secured their computer systems against known hacks.  And, guess what- most of the problems are within the swing states (according to NormSheild).  The real issue is the hackers know that the city (or county or town) employees are the gateway.  These staff don’t pay attention to the advice against hacking and will willingly open up a suspect eMail, thereby giving the hacker access to the entire network.  (By the way, the hackers know which systems are the most vulnerable.  Oh- and NormShield plans to publish a report- each and every month until the 2020 election- detailing which states [13 as of now are the highest risk] have been sitting on their hands.)

Up until Thursday the 19th of September, Moscow Mitch was afraid to beef up security because TheDonald will blow the roof sky high.  TheDonald wants the world to believe that he garnered the most votes (and not just those from the electoral college) and it was not through the efforts of the Russians (or the Iranians or the Chinese) with which he managed his election win.  But, finally MoscowMitch relented- but he only let the limited bill with funding of only $ 250 million, not the $ 600 million the House appropriated.  The real problem is the House bill is not enough to keep our elections safe.  (The estimate to make all our election districts secure is closer to $ 2 billion.)

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