The IT Office: A story of how NOT to handle a ransomware attack

One click in an innocent-looking email, and a normal day at work turns into a nightmare.

Think it can’t happen to you? Neither did the company you’re about to meet.

Welcome to Third Bank of Lackawanna Scranton

Our story begins in a regional bank in Pennsylvania. Known for its small-business mindset and customer-centric approach, this bank is going through major changes. A wealth management firm acquired the bank last year and is planning to bring all the subsidiaries under one centralized IT infrastructure. And after Third Bank successfully thwarted a malware attack on its parent company, all eyes are on the regional bank’s IT.

Lightning never strikes the same place twice, right? We’re not so sure.

Meet the players

If malware comes knocking again, who will Third Bank turn to? Let’s meet the core team.

Go phish

Like so many ransomware attacks, our story starts simply. Someone opens a link in a phishing email. Before you know it, that simple act turns into an extremely complicated problem.

That’s what happened to Third Bank. Spence opened a “birthday card” in his email… that didn’t actually come from a colleague. And it didn’t take long before his teammates knew that something was terribly wrong.

Lights out

The mobile banking app is down. The servers are down. The database is offline. It’s a full-scale outage. Third Bank’s customers can’t bank. We don’t need to tell you that that’s a major problem.

Calling in backup

When the chief information security officer gets word that Third Bank’s data has been encrypted, the alarm has officially been sounded. It’s time to get help from an outside source. Have you ever heard of a company called NetApp? Someone at Third Bank has… and NetApp^® technology may be able to help.

How did it turn out?

Curious to see what happens next? Watch the series and follow along with our practical guide—so your organization doesn’t make the same mistakes that Third Bank did.