What would you do if you couldn't access all your business data tomorrow? Ransomware can put all your organisation's files and data at risk.
Across the world ransomware attacks are increasing daily, providing a continual pipeline of cash for criminal and terrorist groups operating globally. There was a 165% increase in malware instances in 2015 according to the McAfee Labs Threats Report.
What is it and what does it do?
Ransomware will encrypt all your data and will demand a ransom to unencrypt it – it will hold your data hostage. Even if you pay the ransom there is no guarantee that they will release your data.
You will lose access to some, if not all, files and data within your business, meaning you will be unable to work, leading to financial loss.
How could I get infected?
What are we doing?
IT Lab are actively checking and monitoring that the products and tools we use to provide IT Services are up-to-date. We are ensuring that security updates are configured and back-ups are functioning correctly.
What do you need to do?
Everyone needs to be aware of the threat so please share this message with your colleagues. Anyone that has an email account or logs on to a computer could unintentionally let ransomware infect your organisation, regardless of the security measures in place.
If IT Lab provides you with support services please be assured that you are protected by the latest anti-virus definitions, security updates and email filtering programs that are minimising the risk from ransomware and other threats. However this is not enough alone, all users need to be aware and vigilant.
Here are some rules that you and your colleagues should adopt, these can help everyone protect your organisation:
Rule 1: Never click on a URL in an unsolicited email
Rule 2: Do not open attachments from unsolicited emails
Rule 3: If an email doesn't seem right, check the email address is genuine
Rule 4: If you don't recognise the file name or file type, don't open it
Rule 5: If you suspect ransomware, don't open it and report it
If you would like IT Lab to proactively monitor and protect your infrastructure please contact us.