A newer threat we are seeing at Strategic Networks FL to businesses and home users is the rise of ransomware. For those of you who don't know ransomware is a virus that doesn't just destroy your computer it also encrypts all of your data and leaves you a ransom note explaining how to send them a large amount of money usually in the difficult to acquire form of bitcoins. If you manage to navigate the maze of setting up a bitcoin wallet and actually purchasing bit coins to pay the ransom you still have no guarantee of ever receiving the password to your encrypted data. The criminal actually has no motivation to give you the password because then it might be easier for a professional to build a decryption tool for that specific ransomware.Many people ask me how do you get ransomware? While there are several ways to get ransomware you normally get it through a link in an email that you follow accidentally in a fake UPS or FedEx tracking email or some other kind of spoofed email from an acquaintance. You can also get ransomware from an infected website that installs malware when you browse to it. You could even get ransomware from another virus that is already on your computer and that virus maker is paid to execute the ransomware on many infected computers. Therefore, it is important to have a good antivirus software preferably paid but free is better than nothing. Paid antivirus software is updated more often because they have more resources...How can we protect ourselves from ransomware? Well the first thing I have already mentioned is antivirus software. Even more important than the antivirus software is a good backup software. A good local backup is the first line of protection if ransomware gets past your antivirus software. The only problem is that sometimes the local backup device gets encrypted as well. So finally, I recommend a good offsite backup. There are several and I will not recommend any one. A good offsite backup will allow you to download your documents when all other copies of your data have been encrypted, corrupted or otherwise destroyed. Ransomware not only attempts to encrypt all of your data but also encrypts or deletes things like backups and shadow copies of your data so you cannot restore. For this reason, an offsite copy will give you the level of protection you need in this situation. Strategic Networks offers a managed offsite backup software and it comes standard with one of our monthly service agreements. Ransomware cleanup is difficult. Once you have been infected with ransomware you need to think about how to recover. Remove the computer or device from wired or wireless networks. Contact a professional IT company like Strategic Networks Bradenton Sarasota to setup an appointment to have your computer cleaned and repaired and make sure no other devices are infected.So, beware of the rise of ransomware. Never pay as you are only helping bad people attack our country and there is no guarantee you will get your data back. Get a good antivirus software, keep it up to date and scan often. Finally make sure you have a good offsite backup and test it occasionally. If you find your computer or network infected with ransomware don't panic. Unplug it from the network. Contact us at Strategic Networks Bradenton Sarasota. There are things that we can do to help. Every situation is different, but we may be able to find a decryption tool or find a backup of your data on your computer. With luck not all is lost we will do our best to help. If you haven't been infected call Strategic Networks Bradenton Sarasota to help you harden your computers and network against threats. Thanks for checking out our Strategic Networks of Bradenton Sarasota.Thank you,Michael A. Masse Jr.Strategic Networks, LLCBradenton / Sarasota FL
