Hospital and health system executive should be aware of Zeppelin, a new ransomware that is targeting healthcare and technology companies throughout Europe and the U.S., according to Silicon Angle.
Here are four things to know:
1. Zeppelin is part of the Vega ransomware family. Advertised as an attack-as-a-service, the ransomware was reportedly developed in Russia or a former Soviet-based country.
2. The ransomware can infect computer networks in various ways, including as an .exe file or a .dll file.
3. Zeppelin can do major damage to computer networks. Some of its features include the ability to delete backup files, auto locking and a so called "melt" tool that injects a self-deletion thread into Windows Notepad.
4. Like other ransomware, Zeppelin demands a payment for victims to receive decryption codes.
"As long as potentially targeted organizations continue to operate with minimal preventive security systems, limited security understanding of employees and weak backup and recovery systems and processes, they will remain vulnerable to financially focused cybercriminals and their ransomware-enabled campaigns," Matthew Gardiner, director of enterprise security at Mimecast, told Silicon Angle. "Cybercriminals will leverage the easiest and most reliable system for the delivery of their ransomware malware."