Are you vulnerable to Ransomware?

Ransomware seems to be the "in" thing among virus writers and hackers. In the good old days, a virus would hit your systems and either delete your files, or use your email software to send spam and itself to your address book.

These days, the so called Black-Hat hackers are looking for more.

They want to get paid!

You will typically be emailed a file that doesn't seem to do anything, but in the background it is encrypting all of your data. Once complete, you will be shown a message similar to above and asked to pay for the decryption key. Typically, the amounts requested are between $500 and $1000 USD - these guys are in it for the money, so the amounts are such that most people will value their data enough to pay the sum requested.

If you don't pay the ransom, the only solution really is to reinstall your system and say goodbye to your data.

So how do you protect yourself?

The best form of protection is defence.

1. Make sure you've got a good, reputable Anti-Virus program. One that you pay for. Not a free one. Not one that came bundled with your computer. When you buy a good Anti-Virus product, you're paying them to keep on top of these threats. Having a good, up-to-date Anti-Virus in place will stop your system becoming infected in the first place.

2. Make sure you've got a good backup, one that isn't kept on the same computer that it's backing up. This will enable you to wipe your system, removing all trace of the virus and then recover your data.

We always think this kind of thing happens to other people. Surely it's only a problem for people in the USA or UK or people in big business who can pay a big ransom.

It doesn't. Just this week a Waikanae resident called us for help after their computer became infected with a variant of the threat outlined above.

If you would like help protecting your system or with any of your technology, get in touch with TechMan today!