Protecting yourself from Ransomware

Crimeware is coming at us from all angles, with most of us spending the majority of our day online - at work, at home, or on our personal devices. Crimeware is a type of malware used to carry out a cybercrime. Crimeware is also known as a computer virus, spyware, malware, or ransomware. Ransomware or malware is a  deceptive piece of software that tricks you into granting access to confidential information ultimately committing identity theft and often requesting a ransom usually in the form of bitcoins.

In this blog I asked Bob Miller, VP of Technical Services at RKL eSolutions, a series of questions on crimeware and best practices to protect yourself and your company.

What is the difference between Malware and a virus?

Malware or ransomware is legal. Technically you invite it onto your computer.

How do you protect your company/self?

• Make sure you have current and regular backups
• Make sure the backup can be recovered – outline it and more important test it!
• Don’t open documents and emails that you do not know who they are from
• If the email appears to be from someone you know but looks strange
  • Check with the person to see if it is legitimate
  • Hover your mouse over the person’s name or email in the email header of the email, see if it is really that address, it might show a different email address…this would be spoofed
• Keep your patches and updates current, this includes anti-virus, malware, operating system and applications.
  
  

How do I test my backup?

That would depend on your backup software/methodology. Make sure your backup is to a destination that you will be able to gain access to, taking into consideration software, hardware, technology, connectivity, etc. Make sure you have properly configured and selected all of your systems and files needed to restore. I would recommend not deleting before a restore.

What antivirus software does RKL recommend?

At RKL we use Symantec. But, there many good options that exist. They all have pros and cons. You should review each of the options to select what meets your unique needs of functionality and price point. Contact us if you are concerned about protecting your company from Ransomware.