Ransomware would have caused a lot of damage to our clients if they didn’t have our help. Our team kept them safe from ransomware on two occasions in the same month. Do you have someone protecting your company from ransomware?
You’ve probably heard a lot about ransomware and other cybercrime threats. It’s easy to hype up the doom and gloom about cybercrime – fear is often a great motivator.
But at a certain point, it’s probably turned into background noise, right? You hear so much about types of threats that you get numb to it.
Here’s a reminder of just how real cybercrime is: an Initial.IT client was recently hit with ransomware – twice in the same month. Fortunately, they had our team taking care of them. In both cases, we had them back up and running in 24 hours or less. No ransoms paid, no data compromised.
They were so happy with how we addressed these incidents that they gave our team personalized outfits and a $100 gift card each.
How Does Ransomware Work?
Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts the target’s data (making it unreadable and inaccessible) and holds it for ransom. It targets all data on the target’s systems, making it impossible for them to ignore until they pay the ransom, or wipe the data.
Typically, an unsuspecting employee clicks on an emailed attachment that appears to be a bill or other official document. In actuality, the attachment installs a malicious software program (malware) onto the computer system.
There are several ways that hackers can trick targets into downloading ransomware:
- Phishing: Phishing is a hacking technique that “fishes” for victims by sending them deceptive emails. Phishing attacks are often mass emails that include ransomware as an attachment.
- Malvertising: Hackers have found vulnerabilities in many popular, modern browsers like Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. The hackers spam users with official-looking pop-ups informing them of an “infection” or “security alert,” prompting them to download a file or click a link. That’s where the ransomware comes into play. As with so many of these methods, it just comes down to getting the user to interact with malware in some way without knowing it.
- Out Of Date Hardware: Many of the most common malware and viruses used by cybercriminals today are based on exploiting those programming flaws; to address this, developers regularly release software patches and updates to fix those flaws and protect the users.
What Would Happen If You Were Infected With Ransomware Right Now?
Do you have a plan? Are your system endpoints protected? Are your backups recent, tested, and viable?
It’s easy to assume that just because you haven’t been hit by ransomware yet, that you won’t be anytime soon. You may think you can put off investing in effective cybersecurity support, but without warning, you may get hit.
Don’t assume you’re safe – working with our team, you’ll know for sure.
Like this article? Check out the following blogs to learn more:
How to Transition to a Remote Team
How to Stay Safe Against the Cybersecurity Repercussions of COVID-19
