According to ScienceDirect, the definition of an attack on availability is “a type of security breach that targets the reliability, accessibility, and performance of computing resources and data. Availability attacks can disrupt access to data or certain services. For businesses, attacks on availability can prevent staff from accessing the information that they need to continue operations. A common technique used in these attacks is ransomware. According to the FBI, the definition of ransomware is a type of malicious software– or malware– that prevents you from accessing your computer files, systems, or networks that demand you pay a ransom for their return. Ransomware can affect anyone at any time, specifically large corporations.

The top victims of ransomware attacks are schools, government offices, and healthcare. Ransomware is oftentimes not detected until it is too late. It can unknowingly be downloaded onto your computer by doing simple actions such as opening a file or visiting a website that is infected with malware. Once it is on your computer, it can lock files that are stored in the system or even prevent you from accessing anything on the computer. Some ransomware can even encrypt files. Many times, you are unaware that ransomware has infected your computer until you no longer have access to files and are being bombarded with demands for ransom payments.

Ransomware affects businesses in numerous ways with the most common being operational disfunction, loss of data, and financial loss. If systems and important files are locked, it makes it difficult, if not impossible to continue operations as normal. If a business decides to pay the ransom, it can lead to a huge financial loss for the company. If files do get locked or encrypted, the entire file can be lost which leads to immense loss of data.