Akira, an infamous ransomware, has set its eyes on Singaporean businesses after wreaking havoc on others worldwide within a year. It has stolen over $42 million from about 250 firms operating in regions like North America, Europe, and Australia and now arrived in Singapore. Officials warned organizations throughout the city-state to beware.
In an X post, the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore stated, “CSA, the Singapore Police Force (SPF), and the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) have jointly issued an advisory on Akira ransomware.” The joint advisory document can be found here. It helps firms understand how to protect themselves from Akira and the steps to follow after an unfortunate hack.
These authorities noted that they received numerous complaints from domestic Singapore businesses and organizations about being hacked by Akira, leading them to issue alerts regarding the ransomware. Most importantly, they have instructed firms not to give in to the cybercriminals’ demands when attacked.
“If your organization’s systems have been compromised with ransomware, we do not recommend paying the ransom and advise you to report the incident immediately to the authorities. Paying the ransom does not guarantee that the data will be decrypted or that threat actors will not publish your data,” the authorities stated.
They further asked firms to implement cybersecurity measures to ward off such attacks. That includes multifactor authentication, data recovery measures, encrypting system-wide data, and turning off disabled ports, among others.
From attacks observed in other regions, Akira mostly goes after organizations offering critical infrastructures, making their outages felt acutely on several levels. It encrypts all their data and moves it elsewhere, preventing them from accessing it and conducting their operations, inevitably affecting numerous stakeholders.
Firms have no option but to cough up the demanded funds to get back into action. That way, the cybercriminals behind Akira easily extract ransom through Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
