These days, being held for ransom has taken on a whole new meaning–and your business technology’s biggest threat is virtual, persistent, and extremely difficult to pin down. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), ransomware attacks are on the rise—and businesses are becoming increasingly targeted over individual consumers due to their ability and willingness to pay higher ransoms.
During a ransomware attack, cyber criminals will hold business’ IT systems hostage until demands for money are met–and only after the ransom fees are paid in full is valuable business data returned to the rightful owner. Upon infection, ransomware begins its attack by encrypting valuable files and folders on local storage and backup locations, as well as local hard drives—and any other data points on the same network that the infected device is attached to. Problematically, the infection will usually go unnoticed until someone attempts to use the system and access is either denied or met with on-screen messaging threats of ransom and data destruction.
Ransomware has seen great success due in part to its ability to shut down business processes and threaten the total destruction of company data. Since malware and ransomware methods are constantly evolving—and because it is often hard to detect a ransomware infection until the data has already been compromised—the FBI recommends that businesses work diligently to ensure they have adequate prevention and a disaster response plan in place well before opening network operations:
Educate Employees
Develop a Disaster Response Plan
Maintain Patches and Updates
Limit Administrative Accounts
Configure Permissions Correctly
Disable Macro Scripts
Restrict Vulnerable Software
Business Continuity Best Practices
On Time Tech | IT Services In San Francisco is the trusted choice when it comes to keeping your business’ network safe from ransomware and other malware attacks. We pride ourselves in always staying ahead of the latest information technology tips, tricks, and news. Contact us at (877) 270-1391 or send us an email at [email protected] for more information.
My philosophy when starting OTT was I wanted to create a place that I would want to work at (fun and friendly.) Where there was no corporate politics and we could just do our job fixing things and helping people. We can help people with their technology and not be arrogant or condescending to people. We can actually make a difference in peoples lives and not just say it but do it.