Here’s the deal: if you or a loved one gets ransomed, provided you pay the fee, the person doesn’t get hurt or injured, and everything can proceed as it had before without any loss to life, liberty, etc. But if your computer comes down with ransomware, you may continuously end up paying the ransom and never get your files back.
Additionally, there are some ransomware programs that will delete all your information if you don’t pay the fee; and they’re designed by hackers with no oversight whatsoever. What this means is that there are no standards against which the hackers are held. So if the worm only works in a one-way encryption, that doesn’t matter to the hacker.
A Closer Look
Basically, ransomware utilizes the same kind of encryption protocols often found in military applications and the like. These encryption protocols are brought to bear against your files. They lock you out of your own information unless you pay a certain fee. Depending on the size of your business, the fee could be larger or smaller.
Additionally, there are some ransomware protocols that will delete all your information within 24 hours if you don’t pay the nasty little fee. These can be especially egregious, as they often have exceptionally strong encryption.
With these things in mind, it’s easy to see why answering the question “what is ransomware?”, SentinalOne.com says: “In many information security publications, ransomware is mentioned with the same kind of horrified reverence as terrors such as climate change, Ebola, or The Death Star—to whit: a terrifying enigma with world-devastating implications.”
Fighting Against Ransomware
The best way to avoid ransomware is to establish protocols in your office which cut off the varying channels where it strikes at the source. Don’t open unfamiliar e-mails, have a policy which prevents the download of files externally except they be approved through the proper channels, etcetera.
Add to this a security protection protocol designed to keep a given endpoint portal secure. This protocol should run in the background seamlessly and not compromise normal functionality of a given system. Additionally, it should have a proactive nature to it which learns as it goes. That way ransomware attacks from differing areas can be continuously prevented.
Finally, there is a new ability in endpoint security measures which allows files to be recreated—or at the very least restored—to their original status after an intrusion has taken place. This is a very desirable feature of operation, and you should look for that if you can find it.
Ransomware doesn’t have to be the end of the world. With the right protection software, you’ll have a continuous backup that allows you to retain your information through a reboot that puts things how they were before the ransomware virus managed to spread.
Don’t think you’re immune. In the fourth quarter of 2016, an international ransomware attack shut down the transit portals in San Francisco, one of the most technologically top-tier cities in the world. Anyone is vulnerable, because ransomware exploits human error.
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