How Emotet Became the Most Costly and Devastating Malware Chain & 6 Ways to Defend Yourself

We’ve mentioned it, and you’ve probably heard about it elsewhere. Still, Emotet – the super virus of 2020 – has become the most impactful and destructive threat out there to small and medium businesses, as well as government organizations and larger corporations. While it’s not a new virus, it’s heavily modified more and more. It is evolving way beyond a banking trojan – including selling information to other cyber attackers and infecting users with ransomware. But what is it? And how in the world could one virus that was originally just an email phishing virus become this big?

What is Emotet Malware?

Like the viruses of the olden-days that were called “worms,” Emotet often uses phishing emails to infect other systems on a network, then other people’s contacts, and much more. And just like viruses of the past, a user doesn’t know that they’ve been attacked until after the fact.

 

However, Emotet is not a worm, even though it acts like one. And this malware can spread it in similar fashions; other attackers have been delivering it with other methods. It originally was made as banking malware but has made its way to personal and small business computers alike, making it one of the most widely used and dangerous viruses out there.

 

Trickbot is the Second Most Dangerous

Also, banking trojans originally are constantly being manipulated and “improved” (more like tailored to do more damage) to the point that they have become one of the leading ways that cyber attackers can install ransomware on individual computers. Many of these trojans are being used to exploit exploits in network routers, individual home and business network computers, and even Microsoft products. This allows the user to access any educated exploit that they can use against the system to do more damage.

 

Can an Antivirus Stop an Emotet Malware Attack?

Although it’s highly reported that most attacks can be stopped with Windows Defender and other antivirus programs, the truth is, many of these modified versions of the world’s most popular trojan viruses have protection to keep the user unaware that the virus is being installed, at least until it’s too late. Even many advanced firewalls are not detecting the attacks. That’s where full-service solutions like SentinelOne come into play.

 

SentinelOne can offer a large defense against these attacks and even prevent them. At the same time, it can also aid in recovering data that may have been breached as well – and many ransomware attackers know it. Numerous companies are being threatened when the attacker realizes that they’re ignoring their ransomware attacks. We’ve even mentioned it in a previous post where some hackers are even cold-calling their victims when they realize that their demands are being ignored.

 

How Can You Protect Yourself From an Emotet Attack?

Aside from using a full-service solution, it would be best if you instilled maximum security. This is sometimes hard to do when you’re busy working on the job at hand. Therefore, you must have IT specialists that provide multiple services to implement these different security solutions. This could include, but not be limited to:

 

• Local cloud backups of your company’s financial and critical data
• Increased email security
• Advanced knowledge of cybersecurity that they’ll happily share so you can teach your employees
• A defense solution and helpdesk solution lets you continue to get busy doing what’s important – running your business.
• Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) systems and phone services that extend outside of your office to local home offices
• Dedicated local web hosting solutions
• And much more
• Whatever you decide to do, you must avoid getting these “deadly for business” viruses, and you should give us a call today!