Be smart with data – back it up!
Ransomware attacks not going anywhere soon
Americans are extremely reliant upon computers and technology.
On a personal level, we use them for memories, storing our photos on our computers or in a cloud-based account. We do our banking online, pay our bills online and shop online, ordering everything from glasses to clothing to grocery items.
On a business level, banks, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, offices, and retail companies – even mom and pop shops, all rely on computers and the internet on some level to function, as do government entities.
Malicious software attacks have the potential to cripple nations. Businesses hit by a malicious attack lose money every minute they spend repairing the damage of a cyber attack.
And for individuals, sometimes, those memories lost in a malware or cyber attack are never recovered again, which can be heartbreaking.
Once again, nations around the globe are reeling from yet another cyber attack. This time, the ransomware attack is a more advanced version of the Petya virus. It appears to have been launched in the Ukraine, according to the Associated Press. The virus locks up computer files and then demands a ransom to release the files.
It spread quickly, and AP notes that while Russia and the Ukraine were hardest hit, businesses in the United States were hit as well, including Merck and Mondelez International, parent company to brands such as Oreo and Nabisco.
As we’ve noted before, these attacks will continue, and odds are, they will get worse.
So it’s critical that people take steps to protect their data, and build some habits to ensure that information is protected and secure.
The first is to buy a backup external hard drive, and then regularly use it. Set a reminder on your phone, and once a week or once a month, hook the hard drive up to your computer and back those files up. Or set up an online cloud backup.
At the Yuma Sun, each department regularly backs up any shared files, graphics or documents that are critical to our daily production. And when a ransomware attack report surfaces, we do backups again, just to be certain. The Yuma Sun was hit in a ransomware attack years ago, and it is something we strive to avoid now.
Also, be smart about what you open in your email, and read not only the sender’s name, but also their email address before opening any emails. If it isn’t familiar, delete it.
And finally, make sure that your computer is current on updates and virus protection.
Those steps will do much to keep your information safe and free of ransomware attacks.
DO YOU AGREE WITH THIS OR NOT?