Ok the news is on fire with news of a massive malware attack. This malware is called ransomware. I have been talking about ransomware since early last year and I have been talking about how to not get yourself infected since 2010.
When I started this company I had already been watching and fighting malware. I had a pretty good plan of some basics to not get yourself infected. Rules 1-4 were the primary rules in 2010. Now the list is longer but most of the recommendations are easy for most folks to do. For the ones that are more technical a competent consultant can make sure you have them implemented properly. Also how you operate your computer is just as important as to what you have protecting it.
Ransomware then came onto the scene. It is not the same type of malware as your typical virus. Most viruses these days are more interested in giving remote control of your machine to an outside party. This means they have to find a way to stay deep inside your system and run in the background all the time. If they get detected they get removed and then the remote access to your system has been lost. Ransomware is slightly different. While it tries to stay on your system…it has a different method for ensuring you will comply with them…they encrypt your files to the point you cannot recover them without paying some kind of money to recover them back. If your a/v finds the software and removes it…your data is still toast. Most ransomware infections are easy to detect(you immediately lose access to your files) and the infection is usually easy to remove. The hard part can be regaining control of your files because they are now locked away with tough encryption that is nearly(or totally impossible) to break. Sometimes the good folks find weaknesses in the code and can make a free decrypter….but many times these decrypters are possible because the encryption code is poor quality. If this is the case the decrypter may not work.
How to guard against an infection? First, follow my basics of not getting infected. If you still get infected you need to have ransomware resistant backups. The cost for having ransomware resistant backups is minimal. There is an attitude of stockpiling bitcoin to pay ransoms for data. WHY?!?!?!? That is nothing but pure laziness. ANY organization can have ransomware resistant backups. If you are a super large organization and cloud based backups are not practical there is a way to make yourself ransomware resistant anyway.
If you are not sure you have proper defenses and a good recovery plan for ransomware contact me. Do not be the next medical facility, police station, or victim of a worldwide outbreak. It is not hard to guard yourself against ransomware. If you know your network is vulnerable contact me and let’s get you setup properly. I will help you not only get secure…but that security will save your business should something bad happen later on.
here is my video: