He pointed out that governments and banks are getting much better at tracking wire transfers.  The way ransomware attackers can remain anonymous is through requiring ransomware payments via Bitcoin. But, alas, Bitcoin is not going to go away.

Some people, as controversial as it sounds, feel that ransomware has a bright side. If an organization gets infected with ransomware, at least they know their systems have been compromised. Other successful hacks may not become obvious to the victim for months or even years. When an organization gets infected with Ransomware, then hopefully they will shore up their defenses, and that naturally helps protect them from many other attacks as well.

The security solutions demonstrated here at RSA are very powerful. And, for better or worse, so are the new attack vectors that are almost impossible to protect against.

The conference is exciting and depressing all at the same time. There is a lot of hype, and, when filtered through, a lot of hope. One thing is for sure, if you end up in the cross-hairs of attackers, well, let’s just hope you don’t.

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Microsoft has released a series of patches related to the Windows Graphics Component. As IT professionals, we are tempted to think that, since it only applies to graphics, the patch isn’t that important.

Actually, the patch is very important. An attacker can execute code on your computers, perhaps even ransomware, if the patch is not installed.

We are seeing a trend during audits, of these patches being missing.

If you are a home user, be sure you are applying patches too. Chances are that you have your computer configured to auto-update.

And at your organization, be sure to alert your IT team that these patches to the graphics component are important too.

As long as your IT team is provided enough time to keep your system backed up, and to test the patches, then their applying your patches isn’t as ominous as hackers hope they feel it is.

And, as executives, you can help a lot by providing them time to focus on testing and deploying the patches. They are very busy already.

Please forward this to everyone you know whose systems may be missing these seemingly unnecessary patches. It will help stop the attackers!

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A benefit of knowing when to expect patches is that patch time could be planned in advance. Now your IT Pros will have to be vigilant about applying Microsoft patches any time of the month. That’s the way it is with Adobe Flash, Java, PDF Reader, and browser patches.

And, patches do you no good until they are installed on your systems.

Applying patches is one of the best things you can do to protect against hacker attacks.

3 Cardinal rules for patches:

First, test the patches. Patches sometimes cause problems, especially Java patches, so they have to be tested. Test them ASAP so you can deploy them ASAP.

Second, use a staged deployment. Patches need to be deployed first to a few machines, then more, then to the rest of your network. That way, if a patch causes a problem, not everyone is down at the same time.

Third, always have a plan on how to “roll back” the patches if they do cause a problem. That’s just another reason to always have good backups and test your ability to restore.

Microsoft says the new “ASAP” patch release proactive will start when Windows 10 is released. That will probably be in July 2015.

Please post your comments below…

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