This world that we’re living in is a technologically thriving one where data flows through every corner. It’s because of this “information age” that almost anything is possible, where we can use it either for good things that’ll make our lives easier, or use it for malicious acts for the sake of our self-gain.
Because of this, we cannot deny the fact that there are people who want to prey on other people’s successes – hackers. Hackers now have become more of a serious threat to society due to cyber attacks, the most common of which are in the form of ransomware. It’s because of these that you can now get the best antivirus for mobile and computers.
What is a Ransomware?
Ransomware is a kind of malware or computer virus that disables users from having access to their system interface or data stored on their computer. Aside from that, there are some cases where it deletes important information and even publishes sensitive ones.
It seemingly stops doing this until you pay the ransomware’s creator a certain sum of money through Bitcoin. However, there is still no guarantee that your system and information will be back to normal if you pay them the amount. This is how threatening-of-a-situation ransomware attacks are.
Preventing Ransomware Attacks
As dangerous and fatal as it sounds, you don’t need to panic about it because there are a lot of things you can do to avoid these attacks from happening in the first place.
Here are some of the best ways:
1. Installing a reputable antivirus software.
This is the first and most obvious thing you need to do. These software are specifically designed to combat these computer viruses. But you should bear in mind that not all antivirus software can detect and remove ransomware because only around 20% to 30% of them can.
Ransomware is a kind of malware that is more complex, making them quite tricky and hard to neutralize. Make sure to install a reputable antivirus such as those sold by well-established vendors such as Norton, Kaspersky Lab, and Malwarebytes. It’s also best if you avail the premium plan. It might be a bit pricey, but it’s worth it.
2. Having data backups.
It’s important that you always prepare for the worst case scenario. In simpler words – expect the unexpected. Create backups of your data. You can do this by having duplicates of your sensitive files stored on a separate external hard drive.
You can also make use of your cloud storage. So that if ever a hacker successfully overrides your system, you can simply erase all of the data in your machine and deny the hacker access to your files. Anyways, you can still restore all of the data later on with your backup.
3. Being extra vigilant with suspicious emails.
Another way where a ransomware might access your system is through emails and pop-ups. This has happened some times already, WannaCry being the most popular of these ransomware attacks. It is initiated through email attachments.
It has infected more than 200,000 computers in 150 countries, proving that ransomware is a real threat to everyone. With this, it makes perfect sense for you to be extra careful in reading and opening emails that might seem to be suspicious.
Check for any signs of inconsistencies such as grammatical and typographical errors. You can also hover on the hyperlinks to see if they’re going to redirect you to a suspicious-looking site.
If an email asks you sensitive information such as your bank account number, password, or social security number, and if it comes from a financial institution, they’re most likely hackers. Immediately report them to your email provider, swiftly send it to the trash bin, and delete it for good.
4. Getting a premium business security plan.
If ever you’re running a big company which spans over hundreds of employees, you need to get a top-of-the-line security plan. In knowing that you have hundreds or possibly even thousands of employees and each has their computer system, the infection can easily spread throughout the organization even if only one machine is infected by ransomware.
In having a security plan, you can avoid this from happening because there will be IT professionals and advanced security systems that’ll monitor your system’s overall health and status in real-time.
If Your System is Already Infected…
If ever it seems to be too late for you and your system is already infected, the first thing you need to do is to disconnect your machine from the internet immediately. This is to stop the infection from spreading to other machines.
If you’ve got a data backup, then you’re all good. You simply have to erase all of the infected data and restore it back through your other hard disk which contains all of the backup data.
But if you don’t have any, then you’ve got no other choice but to report it to the police and seek the help of an IT professional who specializes in data recovery. If they can’t help you, then you’ve just got to wait until a new security tool pops up in the future.
