vSAN Cluster Types: 2 Node Clusters vs. Stretched Clusters

A regular vSAN cluster will reside at one site and requires at least two nodes (although three or more is common). Meanwhile, a vSAN stretched cluster divides nodes among multiple sites, which may reside just down the hallway from one another, or may be located in separate buildings on a campus or across a city. Schulz likens a stretched cluster to taking a 12-egg carton and cutting it in half.

Its all about availability, Schulz says. If theres a power outage or a hardware problem, if something happens to those eggs in one refrigerator, you can keep running.

Schulz notes that organizations may also opt to connect multiple clusters across more distant locations for instance, connecting clusters in Chicago and New York. While these sites are too distant to accommodate a single stretched cluster, infrastructure at far-flung sites can be set up to replicate to each other, providing a greater level of redundancy.

When organizations enable encryption, vSAN encrypts everything in the vSAN data store. Because all files are encrypted, all virtual machines (as well as their corresponding data) are protected, and only an administrator with encryption privileges can perform encryption and decryption tasks. Because theyre part of the VMware environment, the nodes themselves have that protection, where its difficult to get in there and tinker with the node and the encryption mechanism, Schulz says. Its multiple layers of protection.

MORE FROM BIZTECH:Learn about using VMware as a service on Microsoft Azure.

Data center operators can take advantage of vSANs features in an all-flash environment or a hybrid configuration. In an all-flash vSAN, flash storage is used throughout the entire solution. A hybrid vSAN, by contrast, uses flash only at the caching layer, with spinning disk storage used throughout the rest of the environment. An all-flash vSAN will, of course, offer an overall higher level of performance, and data center operators should understand that the cost of flash storage has dropped steeply in recent years, making all-flash a realistic option for many use cases. Still, hybrid solutions remain even more affordable, and the decision will ultimately come down to each individual organizations performance requirements and budget.

Theres plenty of demand for all-flash, and plenty of people also use hybrid, says Sheppard. You absolutely have to have both [as options]. What were seeing is that hyperconverged infrastructure has matured to a point where it cant be a single type of product. It has to be a little broader in terms of how it can be configured by the user.

Get as much flash as you can afford, Schulz advises. The price of flash is always coming down, but so is the price of spinning disk. If you cant afford all the flash you need for your capacity, hybrid is a home run. Its all about budget.

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What is VMware vSAN: Cluster Types, Encryption and More - BizTech Magazine

The benefits of operational efficiency and flexibility delivered by public cloud resources have encouraged todays organizations to migrate applications and data to external computing platforms located outside the perceived security of on-premises infrastructures. Many businesses are now adopting a cloud-first design approach that emphasizes elastic scalability and cost reduction above ownership and management, and, in some cases, security.

Analyzing global trends in public cloud services, Gartner has predicted that spending on these resources will increase from $182.4B in 2018 to $331.2B in 2022, with 30 percent of all new software investments being cloud native by the end of 2019.

Trusting Someone Else to Guard Your Secrets

The benefits of third-party infrastructure and applications, however, come with risks. Deploying sensitive applications and data on computing platforms that are outside of an organizations owned and managed infrastructure requires trust in the service providers hardware and software used to process, and ultimately protect, that data.

Trusting a cloud provider can be disastrous for an organization financially and reputation-wise if they are the subject of a successful cyber-attack. In its Ninth Annual Cost of Cybercrime Study, Accenture reported that in 2018 the average cost of cyber-attacks involving either a malicious insider or the execution of malicious code was $3M per year, according to participants.

Confidential Computing

One response to the problem of the trustworthiness of the cloud when it comes to data protection has been the emergence of the Trusted Execution Environment (TEE), which has led to the concept of confidential computing. Industry leaders joined together to form the Confidential Computing Consortium (CCC) in October.

The Confidential Computing Consortium looks to address the security issues around data in use, enabling encrypted data to be processed in memory without exposing it to the rest of the system. This is the first industry-wide initiative by industry leaders to address data in use, since todays encryption security approaches mostly focus on data at rest or data in transit. The work of the Confidential Computing Consortium is especially important as companies move more workloads to multiple environments, including on premises, public cloud, hybrid, and edge environments.

Secure Enclaves

One of the most important technologies for addressing the problem of protecting data in use can be found in the form of secure enclaves, such as the protected memory regions established by Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX). Secure enclaves allow applications to execute securely and be enforced at the hardware level by the CPU itself. All data is encrypted in memory and decrypted only while being used inside the CPU: the data remains completely protected, even if the operating system, hypervisor or root user is compromised. With secure enclaves, data can be fully protected across its entire lifecycle at rest, in motion and in use for the first time.

Secure enclaves can offer further security benefits using a process called attestation to verify that the CPU is genuine, and that the deployed application is the correct one and hasnt been altered.

Operating in secure enclaves with attestation gives users complete confidence that code is running as intended and that data is completely protected during processing. This approach is gaining traction, for example it enables sensitive applications, including data analytics, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence, to run safely in the cloud with regulatory compliance.

Runtime Encryption

Encryption is a proven approach for effective data security, particularly when protecting data at rest and data in motion. However, as discussed above, a key requirement for confidential computing, and the focus of the Confidential Computing Consortium, is protecting data in use. When an application starts to run, its data is vulnerable to a variety of attacks, including malicious insiders, root users, credential compromise, OS zero-day, and network intruders.

Runtime encryption provides deterministic security with hardware-aided memory encryption for applications to protect data in use. Through optimization of the Trusted Computing Base (TCB), it enables encrypted data to be processed in memory without exposing it to the rest of the system.

This reduces the risks to sensitive data and provides greater control and transparency for users. Runtime encryption provides complete cryptographic protection for applications by running them securely inside a TEE and defending them even from root users and physical access to the server.

Expanding the Circle of Trust

The number one concern cited by enterprises in their move to the cloud continues to be security. Confidential computing and protecting data in use gives sensitive applications a safe place that protects them from todays infrastructure attacks.

Confidential computing is critical for protecting cloud data, and it is fundamentally helping establish and expand the circle of trust in cloud computing. It creates isolated runtime environments that allow execution of sensitive applications in a protected state, keeping cloud apps and data completely secure when in use.

With secure enclaves and runtime encryption supporting confidential computing, customers know that, no matter what happens, their data remains cryptographically protected. No amount of zero-day attacks, infrastructure compromises, and even government subpoenas can compromise the data. Confidential computing expands the deterministic security needed for the most sensitive cloud applications, at the performance level demanded by modern Internet-scale applications.

A Secure Cloud Future

As Gartner has reported, businesses are migrating their sensitive data and applications to public cloud services, a practice that saves them from ownership and maintenance of infrastructure that will inevitably be obsolete in the future.

Leading technology providers have recognized that confidential computing provides a security model ready to address the problems of untrusted hardware and software that have hampered this transition to the cloud.

With a growing number of use cases, and interest and deployments surging, confidential computing environments will be relied on to protect data in growing areas such as industry 4.0, digital health, the Internet of Things (IoT), and federated machine learning systems.

As the Confidential Computing Consortium continues its work, individuals and businesses may at some point expect a confidential computing architecture as a prerequisite for the exchange and processing of our private data.

Link:
Extending the Circle of Trust with Confidential Computing - Infosecurity Magazine

Data protection solutions are finally evolving to the current state of data: distributed, cloud-centric and always-on. Data used to only exist within the corporate network on devices that never left the physical protection of the company.

Data loss prevention (DLP) has been the default solution for protecting data. It's literally in the name. What countless organizations have determined is that DLP doesn't stop breaches, but it does generate extremely high operational overhead. The same is true for other legacy solutions such as pretty good privacy (PGP) and information rights management (IRM).

DLP is only as good as the classification rigidity enforced by the organization. Classification is always too rigid and can't keep up with fluid data movement. For DLP to prevent data from egress, data must be classified correctly. Classification is complicated and fragile. What is sensitive today is not sensitive tomorrow and vice versa. Classification turns into an endless battle of users trying to manage the classification of data. Ultimately, classification and DLP deteriorate over time. DLP adds an extremely high operational overhead, as it requires users to be classification superstars, and even then, mistakes will happen. Desjardins Group, a Canadian bank, recently made news for a malicious insider who obtained information on 2.7 million customers and over 170,000 businesses. The exact details of the breach haven't been made public yet, but DLP solutions are standard in all financial institutions.

PGP's encryption is a privacy tool. Users can encrypt their data so others can't access it, but PGP fails once users try to share data with other users. Once a user distributes the encryption key, the user has completely lost control of the data. Anyone with the key can decrypt the data and transfer the unprotected data as they wish. PGP was never intended to secure an organization's data set. Wired Magazine went as far as claiming PGP is dead.

IRM is limited to a small set of applications. Typically focused on Office documents, IRM can protect data with significant depth of protection such as blocking copy and paste, blocking save as, blocking print, etc. Blocking copy and paste adds overhead to users, however. For organizations that only work with Word and Excel files, IRM may be an acceptable solution. Organizations that need to protect any non-Office will need to find another solution. IRM only works with a limited list of applications and versions. Even Microsoft Azure Information Protection has significant restrictions on file types and sizes.

A New Approach to Data Protection

A new wave of solutions has appeared in the market to significantly shift the focus of data protection. Here are four criteria to measure data protection in the solutions you're currently considering:

Data Protection Vs. File Protection

Protecting files is no longer the focus. Data should be protected and continue to be protected as it moves from file to file and format to format. A file is simply the container to store data. Ensure solutions are capable of automatically protecting derivative work, including copy and paste and save-as.

Identity Authentication Vs. Device Or Location Authentication

Access control should be associated with a user identity and not devices, locations, or networks. Having a unified and centralized identity and access management solution will allow for all security permissions to be applied across multiple data protection solutions.

Data DNA Vs. Classification

Protection criteria should not be based on file classification, but rather the actual data DNA. As sensitive data is moved, protection needs to follow data. Classification is too manual and adds too much operational overhead to users.

Transparency Vs. Usability

Legacy solutions added operational overhead to end-users. The best data security solutions are the ones that are not visible to end-users. Don't ask users to change their behavior in the name of data protection. Only unauthorized users should notice security is in place. Data protection solutions also have to protect a broad range of applications, file types, sizes, etc. The more limitations the solution has, the less practical it will be.

With the rise of new data protection solutions, organizations need to review new solutions and replace legacy solutions that aren't capable of protecting data in today's data workflow and increased scrutiny on data security and privacy.

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The Evolution Of Data Protection - Forbes

The report is an all-inclusive research study of the global Encryption Software Market taking into account the growth factors, recent trends, developments, opportunities, and competitive landscape. The market analysts and researchers have done extensive analysis of the global Encryption Software Market with the help of research methodologies such as PESTLE and Porters Five Forces analysis. They have provided accurate and reliable market data and useful recommendations with an aim to help the players gain an insight into the overall present and future market scenario. The report comprises in-depth study of the potential segments including product type, application, and end user and their contribution to the overall market size.

In addition, market revenues based on region and country are provided in the report. The authors of the report have also shed light on the common business tactics adopted by players. The leading players of the global Encryption Software Market and their complete profiles are included in the report. Besides that, investment opportunities, recommendations, and trends that are trending at present in the global Encryption Software Market are mapped by the report. With the help of this report, the key players of the global Encryption Software Market will be able to make sound decisions and plan their strategies accordingly to stay ahead of the curve.

Global Encryption Software Market was valued at USD 3.32 billion in 2016 and is projected to reach USD 30.54 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 27.96% from 2017 to 2025.

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Topmost Leading Key Players in this report :

Dell, Thales E-Security, Eset, Symantec, IBM Corporation, Sophos, Ciphercloud, Pkware, Mcafee, Gemalto, Trend Micro, Microsoft Corporation

As part of primary research, our analysts interviewed a number of primary sources from the demand and supply sides of the global Encryption Software Market . This helped them to obtain both quantitative and qualitative data and information. On the demand side of the global Encryption Software Market are end users, whereas on the supply side are distributors, vendors, and manufacturers.

During our secondary research, we collected information from different sources such as databases, regulatory bodies, gold and silver-standard websites, articles by recognized authors, certified publications, white papers, investor presentations and press releases of companies, and annual reports.

The research report includes segmentation of the global Encryption Software Market on the basis of application, technology, end users, and region. Each segment gives a microscopic view of the market. It delves deeper into the changing political scenario and the environmental concerns that are likely to shape the future of the market. Furthermore, the segment includes graphs to give the readers a birds eye view.

Last but not the least, the research report on global Encryption Software Market profiles some of the leading companies. It mentions their strategic initiatives and provides a brief about their structure. Analysts have also mentioned the research and development statuses of these companies and their provided complete information about their existing products and the ones in the pipeline.

Based on regions, the market is classified into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa and Latin America. The study will provide detailed qualitative and quantitative information on the above mentioned segments for every region and country covered under the scope of the study.

Finally, Encryption Software Market report gives you details about the market research finding and conclusion which helps you to develop profitable market strategies to gain competitive advantage. Supported by comprehensive primary as well as secondary research, the Encryption Software Market report is then verified using expert advice, quality check and final review. The market data was analyzed and forecasted using market dynamics and consistent models.

Verified Market Research has been providing Research Reports, with up to date information, and in-depth analysis, for several years now, to individuals and companies alike that are looking for accurate Research Data. Our aim is to save your Time and Resources, providing you with the required Research Data, so you can only concentrate on Progress and Growth. Our Data includes research from various industries, along with all necessary statistics like Market Trends, or Forecasts from reliable sources.

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Encryption Software Market Size 2019, Trends, Share, Outlook and forecast to 2026 - CupMint

FACEBOOK plans to encrypt all messages on its platforms will give free rein to the worst criminals, the Home Office warned yesterday.

The tech giant is considering introducing end-to-end encryption to Messenger and Instagram Direct just like WhatsApp so only the sender and recipient knows what is said.

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It would have meant 26million pieces of terrorist material going hidden instead of being flagged up between October 2017 and March this year.

And an estimated 12million reports relating to child sex abuse would be lost every year.

Last year they led to more than 2,500 UK arrests and the safeguarding of nearly 3,000 children.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said access to Facebook and Instagram messages were vital to avoiding those children are not abused, raped and degraded in the future.

Law enforcement agencies would also lose access to terror content - with 26 million pieces of terrorist material acted upon between October 2017 and March 2019 alone.

Yesterday the Home Office submitted 15 pages of detailed evidence to a US Senate Judiciary Committee and told of its grave concerns.

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Last night Priti Patel said: This testimony lays out the UK Governments position clearly, factually and dismantles the myths and misconceptions peddled to prevent proper debate.

Yesterday Britain stepped up its battle with the American social media giant - submitting detailed evidence to a US Senate Judiciary Committee warning that it will prevent law enforcement agencies from accessing criminal material.

The Home Office said it had "grave concerns" with the plans and rejected claims from Facebook that the UK Government wants a "backdoor" into encrypted messages across its platforms.

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Home Office warns Facebooks plans to encrypt messages would protect the most serious of criminals - The Sun

It's not just the European Union the UK's ruling party wishes to leave. According to the Guardian, the recently victorious Conservative party is switching from WhatsApp to Signal, in order to accommodate its new influx of MPs.

Unlike WhatsApp, which has a hard limit of 256 members for a group, Signal supports an unlimited number of participants.

The switch to Signal will also allow the Conservative party to stem the flow of leaks emerging from its inner circle.

Earlier this year, Buzzfeed published internal WhatsApp conversations that showed trepidation among Tory parliamentarians that members in marginal seats may lose to the Labour party. Other leaked messages highlighted division within the party, particularly over the fundamental issue of Brexit.

For its part, Labour relied on closed WhatsApp groups to disseminate its general election messages widely, with controversial org Momentum using it to issue "WhatsApp cascades" on polling day, shared on with an estimated 400,000 "young people", amongst other allegations about secret WhatsApp groups.

Like WhatsApp, Signal has end-to-end encryption baked in, preventing a foreign power or individual from accessing sensitive conversations. In addition, it also includes settings, which, when enabled, self-destructs messages after a period of time.

Unfortunately, Signal doesn't allow group moderators to block individuals from taking screenshots, which would frustrate the process of leaking a conversation to the press.

There is a tinge of irony in politicians adopting an encrypted messaging system like Signal.

British government officials have for years called upon tech firms to break encryption to facilitate the access of conversations to law enforcement most notably former Home Sec and PM Theresa May, and later former Home Sec Amber Rudd but more lately current UK Home Secretary Priti Patel.

Erstwhile Prime Minister David Cameron even proposed banning online messaging applications that support end-to-end encryption.

That notwithstanding, Signal is increasingly used in governmental spheres. In 2017, the US Senate Sergeant at Arms approved the app as a communications tool for staffers and legislators alike.

The app has also been endorsed by Edward Snowden, the fugitive former CIA employee, who disclosed the depth of US government surveillance against the general public.

Sponsored: What next after Netezza?

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What's that? Encryption's OK now? UK politicos Brexit from Whatsapp to Signal - The Register

The worlds first uncrackable security system has been developed by researchers in Scotland, it has been claimed.

Computer scientists have long feared the arrival of quantum computing would allow encrypted data to be easily decoded by hackers.

But a global team,including scientists from the University of St Andrews, say they have achieved perfect secrecy by creating a chip which effectively generates a one-time-only key every time data is sent through it.

Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

Its the equivalent of standing talking to someone using two paper-cups attached by string, said Professor Andrea Di Falco of the School of Physics and Astronomy at the university. If you scrunched up the cups when speaking it would mask the sound, but each time it would be scrunched differently so it could never be hacked.

This new technique is absolutely unbreakable.

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Scientists in Scotland help develop worlds first encryption system that is unbreakable by hackers - The Independent

As the city continues to stay mum on the plan to encrypt tens of thousands of police radios in New York City, yet another group is expressing concerns that they will also be shut out of the NYPD feed volunteer firefighters and ambulance companies.

Dozens of volunteer ambulance groups currently respond to help New Yorkers around the city, and they monitor police radios to provide assistance.

Those radios will likely go silent should the NYPD proceed with its plan to encrypt all police radios in 2020, as reported Wednesday in amNewYork.

The NYPD, while not explicitly denying the amNewYork report, said in a statement Tuesday that the department is undergoing a systems upgrade that is underway for the next 3-5 years.

Part of that upgrade includes ensuring radios can support either encrypted or non-encrypted use, said Sergeant Jessica McCrory, a spokesperson for the NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. The Department constantly evaluates technology capabilities and safety measures, and once upgrades are complete, will determine encryption best practices based on safety needs of the city and law enforcement best practices.

Some companies also have access to the FDNY radio feed. The Fire Departments radios are capable for encryption, but officials there say they have no plans to do that. Even so, the NYPD and FDNY commanders would still need radios capable of communicating with each other.

All news organizations would potentially be locked out if the encryption plan goes forward. Many get their early tips of breaking news from listening to police radio scanners or following services which have such access.

Many advocacy groups have weighed in after amNewYorks report, including the Committee to Protect Journalists, which issued the following statement: CPJ is looking into this, and we have also shared it with the US Press Freedom Tracker.

When Police Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were shot to death in 2015, the Bedford-Stuyvesant Volunteer Ambulance Corps was able to quickly respond to the scene because they heard emergency calls on the police radio.

Thats how we responded so rapidly to them, said Antoine Robinson, commanding officer and CEO of the Bed Stuy Volunteer Ambulance. Thats how we get our jobs, but you know the police have to do what is best for the public and police department. No matter what they do, we still have to answer our call and obtain information we need.

Robinson said he plans to speak to the NYPD to see what can be done to maintain communications.

We used to sign out radios, but they stopped doing that, so may be something else can be worked out, Robinson said.

The Central Park Medical Unit, an all-volunteer ambulance unit serving Central Park and the surrounding streets, was able to save the life of a man injured by a home-made bomb in 2016. They were able to get to him quickly because they heard the call on NYPD radio.

Volunteer rescuers have been concerned about losing radio access for some time amid rumors about encryption.

Danny Cavanaugh, president of the Volunteer Firemans Association of New York, said volunteer companies around the city have expressed their concerns previously, but received little response from the NYPD.

We want to maintain the relationship we have always had, and we look forward to continuing it, Cavanaugh said. We always come to the aid of the police and hope we can continue to do that.

Travis Kessel, chairperson of District 4 New York State Volunteer Ambulance and Rescue Association, said it is essential that volunteer units closely with the police department and render aid in a timely manner.

Kessel, who works with the Glendale and Ridgewood Volunteer Ambulance Corps, said he has a close relationship with the NYPD, but losing the radio would make it difficult for the corps to respond to police emergencies.

Since weve existed, weve been part of every large scale event in city every blizzard, heat emergencies to obviously larger events like 9-11. Those open lines of communication to assist, then NYPD and FDNY and other agencies losing that line would be devastating, Kessel said. Our ability to help in a moments notice, by monitoring those radio frequencies and through media channels, allows us to bring aid quicker allows us to have that inside knowledge that knowing what type of resources are needed.

Councilman Donovan Richards, chair of the Public Safety Committee, said he and all other elected officials were taken aback by the radio encryption plans but hes not shocked to hear the NYPD doing this in secret.

Anything that goes backward and kills transparency in this city with the NYPD is not good for the public, Richards said. We are very interested in hearing from the NYPD this is not good for democracy.

Despite Mayor Bill de Blasio saying he would speak with Commissioner Dermot Shea about the radio encryption and loss of transparency, his office has yet to reply for comment.

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Volunteer firefighters, EMTs worry they wont have NYPD radio access to help public - amNY

It seems like crimeware developers never sleep as defenses rise. They're always on the lookout for different ways of honing their weapons of attack. One of the most recent techniques is a ransomware strain that can force a Windows device to reboot into Safe Mode right before encryption begins, intending to get around endpoint protection.

This particular strain is known as Snatch owing to its authors, who refer to themselves as the Snatch Team. It was discovered by Sophos Labs researchers, who outlined their discovery together with insights into how such gangs break into enterprises and other entities on their hit list.

Were going to explain what Snatch ransomware is, how it works, and how you can remove it from your devices.

Snatch is a fresh ransomware variant whose executable forces Windows devices to reboot to Safe Mode even before the encryption process begins in a bid to bypass endpoint protection that often doesnt run in this mode.

Discovered by SophosLabs researchers and Sophos Managed Threat Response team, the snatch ransomware is among multiple malware constellation components being used in an ongoing series of carefully orchestrated attacks featuring extensive data collection.

The new strain of the ransomware uses a unique infection method that applies sophisticated AES encryption so that users whose machines are infected cant access their files.

Snatch ransomware was first noticeably active in April 2019, but it was released end of 2018. However, the spike in encrypted files and ransom notes led to its discovery and follow up by the team of researchers at Sophos.

Its crypto-virus form attacks high profile targets, but this new strain, created using Google Go program, comprises a collection of tools including a data stealer and ransomware feature. Plus, it has a Cobalt Strike reverse-shell and other tools used by penetration testers and system administrators.

Note: The variant Sophos discovered is only able to run on Windows in 32-bit and 64-bit editions from version 7 through 10.

As a file locking virus, Snatch ransomware has no connections with other strains. Still, its developers released nine variants of the threat, which append different extensions after data is encrypted with AES cipher.

The trick is to reboot machines into Safe Mode, and then the ransomware restricts access to your data by encrypting your files. After that, the hackers try to extort money from you by soliciting ransoms in the form of Bitcoin in exchange for unlocking your files and giving back data access.

Theres a reason why their trick works. Some antivirus software dont start in Safe Mode, and the developers discovered they could easily modify a Windows registry key and just boot your machine into Safe Mode. Thus the ransomware runs undetected by your security software.

The first time its installed on your device, it comes through SuperBackupMan, a Windows service, and sets up right before your computer starts rebooting so you cant stop it in time.

Once installed, the attackers use admin access to run BCDEDIT, a Windows command-line tool, to force your computer to reboot in Safe Mode immediately.

It then creates a random named executable in your %AppData% or %LocalAppData% folder, which will be launched and starts scanning your computers drive letters for files to encrypt.

There are specific file extensions it encrypts, including .doc, .docx, .pdf, .xls, and many others, which it infects and changes their extensions to Snatch so you cant open them again.

The ransomware leaves a Readme_Restore_Files.txt text file note, demanding anything between one and five Bitcoin in exchange for a decryption key, with information on how to communicate with the hackers to get your data files back.

After the ransomware scans your computer completely, it uses vssadmin.exe, a Windows command to delete all Shadow Volume Copies on it so you cant recover and use them to restore encrypted data files. The final step is to encrypt any data files on your hard drive.

Currently, infected files arent decryptable owing to the sophisticated nature of the AES encryption used. However, you still have a lifeline if your computer is infected by restoring your files from the most recent backup.

Snatch ransomware has been targeting regular users via spam emails. But today, the main targets are corporations. By paying such criminals, you not only lose money and have no guarantee that theyll send the decryption key to you, but it also encourages them to continue with their cyber criminality.

If you dont have an updated backup, theres not much else you can do other than wait until security experts come up with a Snatch ransomware decrypter. That could take a long time, but there are other ways you can protect yourself from such attacks.

One of the best ways to remove Snatch ransomware and other malware is to install good antivirus security software such as Malwarebytes or SpyHunter that can scan, detect, and eliminate the threat. Not all antivirus engines can catch it because its an entirely new malware, so its good to scan using several programs.

You can protect yourself and your devices against ransomware attacks by taking simple steps such as downloading software from trusted sources, and avoid opening email attachments from untrusted sources.

Other ways you can protect yourself and your organization from Snatch and other types of ransomware include:

Snatch ransomware may sound almost life-threatening in how it works to paralyze your files and devices. Before you think of paying that ransom, try the steps above to remove the threat and always take preventive measures to ensure this and such threats don't show up on your computer or network.

Next up: If you suspect your phone is infected with ransomware, check our next article to find out how to detect that and remove it.

Last updated on 18 Dec, 2019

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What Is Snatch Ransomware and How to Remove It - Guiding Tech

Several years ago, some colleagues and I were chatting about what was missing from tech journalism. Plenty of news media outlets had written breathlessly about hot new gadgets and apps. But what were people really doing with that tech?

That question spawned Tech Were Using, a weekly feature that documented how New York Times journalists used tech to cover a wide variety of topics, including politics, sports, wars, natural disasters, food and art.

With the decade coming to a close, we decided to also wrap up the column after interviews with more than 130 Times reporters, editors and photographers. Here were our biggest takeaways.

Unsurprisingly, the smartphone was the most vital work tool among journalists. Many reporters relied on smartphones for recording interviews and turned to A.I.-powered apps like Trint and Rev to automatically transcribe interviews into notes.

Most Times reporters now also rely on some form of encrypted communication, particularly messaging apps like Signal and WhatsApp or the emailing service ProtonMail, to keep their sources and conversations confidential.

That is a remarkable shift. Encryption technologies became popular only a few years ago, after the former government security contractor Edward Snowden revealed the extent of what the United States government was doing to surveil its own citizens.

Another indispensable tool underlined a type of tech that has not improved much: batteries. Many reporters, especially national correspondents who live out of a suitcase, desperately needed phones with longer-lasting batteries, so battery packs were a staple in their arsenal of tools.

Many photographers were also early adopters of new tech. One key example: drones. Those were constantly getting smaller, and their cameras were improving, which created possibilities for new types of photography, like overhead shots of houses damaged in a fire.

In contrast, many tech reporters tried to minimize the amount of tech they used. That could be, in part, a symptom of knowing too much about the companies they covered and the wide swaths of data those companies collected.

Many editors and reporters also talked about how tech had transformed the industries they cover.

In the world of dining, digital photography and platforms like Instagram have become the main method that restaurants use to communicate with patrons. Rocket launches are now live-streamed online, which let our space reporter watch from his phone instead of heading to the space station. And in the entertainment world, video streaming has opened doors to a wealth of new content so much that reporting on movies and TV shows has become an art of curation.

Whats ahead? If tech has invaded everything, the answer is: even more transformation.

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What We Learned About the Technology That Times Journalists Use - The New York Times