Just a few years back, the CryptoLocker ransomware virus was all over the news, infecting lots of computers, in fact over two hundred and fifty thousand, in the first one hundred days (at least that’s the number reported – the real numbers are probably a lot higher). The threat was fairly straightforward: Pay us or we’ll delete all your data.
Ransomware, like a CryptoLocker attack, works by encrypting your files to prevent you from using or accessing them. After your files are encrypted, the hackers pop up a screen demanding payment ($400 to $2,000) within a certain amount of time (usually 72 hours or three days). You must pay the ransom before they will send you the key to decrypt your files. The Ransomware forced many business owners to either pay up or lose their data. There was no other way to decrypt the files without the key.
You’ve got to be careful with ransomware because it will encrypt all your attached drives too. That includes OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox and any other storage service, cloud or local, that you can access without having to log into, each time you use it. If you use one of those services as a backup, you’re gonna be outta luck.
The best way to foil a ransomware attack is to be on top of your IT security; but with hundreds of thousands of new attacks being created every day, there’s no guarantee you won’t get hacked.
So, it’s critical to keep daily backups of ALL your data, one on-site, one OFF-SITE and one in the cloud, so that IF you do get whacked with ransomware, you can recover all your files without having to pay one thin dime; and don’t forget to back up off-site PCs, laptops, remote offices and third-party software data, that is stored in your cloud services too!
That’s it for tip #3
Next weeks tip will be “How to Spot a Phishing Email”
Remember, it ain’t poisonel – it's jus business.
Til nex time.
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