It’s a word that was hardly common vernacular barely a year ago, and now it seems to be in the headlines daily. The word is “ransomware” and it’s got IT folks mightily worried.
For the uninitiated, ransomware infections threaten computer users with the withholding or destruction of data through encryption if they don't pay a ransom to the crooks that seized the data in the first place. A number of prominent cases of ransomware have made headlines recently, as such takeovers have hit hospitals, school districts, and other governmental offices. Now ESG, makers of the anti-malware program SpyHunter, have compiled some data, and the numbers are disturbing.
“The experts at ESG looked at more than 65 million malware infections detected by its software in the U.S. since April 2013,” said an online report from EnigmaSoftware.com. “They found that ransomware in April 2016 more than doubled the total from March 2016. Additionally, ransomware made up a larger percentage of overall infections in April than in any other month in the last three years.” (See the full report HERE)
What this means is that crooks have found a fast, simple way to cash in, and they’re doing so. Further, they’re not simply attacking the enterprise.
"It's not just businesses that are being hit by ransomware," ESG spokesman Ryan Gerding said. "Every day thousands and thousands of people turn on their personal computers only to find their most precious photos and other files have been locked up by bad guys."
Is there a solution? Short of taking your computers offline completely, no. But there are some simple steps everyone should be following to stay one step ahead. They include:
- Regularly back up your data to an external device or to the cloud: Then if attacked, you can revert to an earlier, saved version of your data.
- Update your software: Better security is coming out all the time.
- Think before you click an unknown link: When in doubt, don’t. Why give criminals the key to the door?
There are all sorts of miscreants out there trying every trick they know to access valuable data. Take steps now to make sure yours doesn’t become theirs.