Following the news that Serco has confirmed that parts of its infrastructure in mainland Europe have been hit by a double extortion ransomware attack from the emergent Babuk group, please find an insight below from a security expert on Babuk ransomware.

<p>Babuk is fairly new ransomware, and whilst reports have suggested that the coding of the malware isn’t very sophisticated, the way the encryption is implemented means that victims can’t decrypt files for themselves. It’s also unclear what the attack vector is in this case, although such attacks typically employ social engineering – i.e. tricking staff into doing something that compromises security, such as clicking on an attachment or link in a message. This is why developing an in-house security awareness programme is so vital, to ensure that staff understand the tricks cybercriminals use and know what they can do to avoid falling victim to them.</p>