Ransomware is everywhere and the next person or company it holds hostage could be you. If you aren’t certain as to what it is, let me give you the short version. Its software that gets downloaded on your system and it can destroy all of your programs and files. It’s almost impossible to remove by anyone other than those who coded it in the first place, and those entities will extort money from you to “remove” the ransomware, but in truth, it may never really be taken off your system, even once you pay their ransom.
Ransomware is on the rise as cybercriminals turn to increasingly savvy and tougher-to-prevent means of monetizing cyber attacks. For businesses who become victim to ransomware attacks, the consequences can be devastating — ransomware that lands in some shared locations within networks can literally paralyze an organization’s operations.
But ransomware is notoriously challenging to prevent altogether, leaving many companies to believe that a reactive approach is the only way to go. While knowing how to fight back if your company is attacked by ransomware is critical, taking proactive steps to minimize the odds that your organization falls victim to ransomware is equally necessary. Preventing ransomware attacks in the first place can save your business in losses due to interrupted operations, data loss, and other consequences.
How can you protect your business? Here are a few steps you can take:
DO NOT open emails in the spam folder or emails whose recipients you do not know.
DO NOT open attachments in emails of unknown origin.
Install a reputable antivirus software.
Perform a regular backup to an external medium (external hard drive or the cloud).
After backing up, disconnect your drive.
Call us , DO NOT pay the ransom. The reason why the criminals keep utilizing this form of blackmailing attacks is that people keep paying.
What can your company do to prevent being victimized by these types of attacks?
Humans need to be trained — they are the weakest link. Companies should employ at minimum a bi-annual training geared towards each user group (end-users, IT staff, managers, etc.) so that everyone is aware of the latest attacks.
We, here at Unified Technology Solutions have been keeping up with the advances in programs to prevent ransomware from ever infecting your system. Give us a call and we can help with preventing ransomware attacks and install one or more of the new defenses have been developed. There are now more powerful tools which block Spam and Virus email filters that can block a large number of phishing exploits before they even reach the internal servers.
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