Letters

I would wish to respond to the letter I read in the last issue of GulfWeekly regarding reader Rebecca Jones’ mammogram experience at Awali Hospital.

Please also publish my letter as an expression of gratitude to the hospital and as a way to say ‘thank you’.

We have been clients for more than 20 years and I would wish to place on record that the ambience of the hospital has always been that of a place of comfort and assurance - two vital factors in my opinion for a patient and in the process of healing.

We have been attended to and cared for by compassionate and efficient medical, dental, nursing and surgical professionals.  Thank you again for all what you have done for me and my family.

Sheerin.

The rapid pace of the latest ransomware attack points at another worm that can spread from computer to computer by itself and once again highlights it disruptive power like never before. Simply by encrypting and blocking access to files, critical services and valuable business data can be damaged.

Organisations are advised never to succumb to the pressure to pay a ransom to regain access to their applications and data. There is no guarantee this will unlock files and further motivates and finances attackers to expand their campaigns.

Email has traditionally been the primary attack route for ransomware. Attackers often send Microsoft Office documents with malicious macros that download and install malware. This includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and also PDFs. Clever social engineering will trick employees into enabling the macros and delivering the payload.

Preventive measures alone can’t keep up with the fast-evolving nature of attacks and as this attack highlights, there are many ways for an infection to enter an organisation.

It’s vital you regularly backup critical data and ensure that ransomware cannot spread to backup files.  Ransomware can take time to encrypt large volumes of files, particularly across a network share. It is imperative to ensure your back-up window is long enough to go back before any infection begins.

Backup and recovery measures only work after an attack, and cost organisations in downtime and IT resources dealing with the attack and aftermath. You must be able to continue to operate during the infection period and recover quickly once the infection has been removed.

Steven Malone, director of security product management at Mimecast.