Over the last 6 months you may have heard about something called Ransomware. We have a blog post coming up on Tuesday, April 26 that will go through it in more detail, but for now I really wanted to reach out and warn you about it and let you know that precautionary steps need to be taken.

What is Ransomware?

Ransomware is a virus of sorts that seeks out the shared data on your network. Once it finds your data, It encrypts that data and locks you out of it. At that point you lose access to your data and are prompted with a way to pay for access to your own data. (Ransoms can be anywhere from $200 – $5000+.) Unless you are really lucky, there is no way to unencrypt the data. If you get struck like this, there are only two options.

1. Pay them and hope they actually give you access to your data. If you choose this option, this does not remove the threat that caused the problem. Cleanup is still needed and if precautions are not taken, they can do it again anytime.
2. Delete the encrypted data, clean up the infection, and restore from a good backup.

This Threat is Real

I have two colleagues at other IT companies that have had clients get hit and it has not been pleasant. Please make sure you have, at a minimum, the following precautions in place:

1. A good firewall protecting your network from the internet.
2. A quality antivirus running throughout the network and centrally managed so it can be monitored.
3. Regular automated updates to the network software that is centrally managed so it can be monitored.
4. And if all else fails, the only thing that will save you as always, a good backup that is monitored daily. Or even better, a disaster recovery solution that is running in real time. If you are not monitoring your backup, you might as well not have one.

Thank you for taking the time to read this special message. If you have any worries about your network security, please call us at (833) 482-6435, or click the banner below to schedule an IT security audit so we can find the best security solutions for your business. Preparation for threats like this is a small cost compared to repairing the damage of an actual infection.

If you enjoyed this IT Support article, please check out other posts on our blog and join us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+ to see how else we can help your Greenville, SC or Atlanta, GA area business succeed!