Page 18 - GBC English Fall 2019

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Golf Business Canada
“The biggest issue with this attack is that ransomware infects not only one computer, but also the server and your back ups if they are connected at the time.”
Once infected, victims will see a ransom note which is often designed to scare or extort the victims into making payment. This can happen to any system that has access to the Internet.
Antivirus software will not necessarily protect you from this type of attack. Most of the time, there is a virtual back door into your computer system; similar to having a security system in your home with cameras and extra locks on your doors, however you leave your back door open.
Most of the time you are safe, as thieves don’t go around looking for unlocked doors or windows, but rarely someone will nd that open back door and let themselves in. This is what happens to your computer system when you get a ransomware attack.
The biggest issue with this attack is that ransomware infects not only one computer, but also the server and your back ups if they are connected at the time. The aver- age small golf business will be asked to pay approximately $8,000 worth of bitcoin. That is approxi- mately 1.5-2 bitcoins. The hackers only take bitcoin as a form of payment so you may require some- one who is a bitcoin broker to make the payment for you if you don’t have a bitcoin account already.
Payment is required quickly, due to the fact that the FBI shuts down hackers regularly. Once payment is made in bitcoin the hackers will send you the decryption software to allow you to gain access to their system again.
In our situation, instead of paying the ransom, we bought a new computer for our POS server and were able to re-install the Tee-On program along with the back ups Tee-On had from the night prior to the attack. We were up and running within 24 hours. This was very fortunate, as the back up from Tee-On was not infected as it had backed up one hour before the attack. We didn’t lose any les or accounting information since our server for that system is not connected to the Internet or the POS server.
In 2018, the Town of Wasaga Beach was hit by this type of ransom- ware and paid the hackers almost $35,000 to retrieve their les. It is not recommended to pay the hackers as this entices them to continue these attacks on other businesses.
Also, paying the hackers does not guarantee that you will receive your data back or prevent future attacks from happening. Therefore, it is highly recommended to try to prevent a ransomware attack from happening and damaging your systems in the rst place.
6 TIPS TO PREVENT A CYBERATTACK
1. Keep your POS computer server separate from your other server computers. Have a dedicated computer that only runs the POS soft- ware to your proshop and food and beverage computers. Have a separate computer server for your internal les and accounting les.
2. Keep your internal le servers of ine from the internet and only have it accessible via an intranet so it is of ine to anyone outside the business.
3. Make sure you have the most up to date antivirus software with ransomware protection. This won’t always protect you, but it is better to have it than not. In our experience the BitDefender Total Security program that includes anti-ransomware software is useful.
4. Do regular antivirus scans on all the computers connected to your server and the Internet. Program them to scan automatically so you ensure that all computers at your facility are up to date at all times.