Employee awareness is more important than ever.
As you may have read or heard on TV /radio, there has been a brutal ransomware attack a little closer to home – Mecklenberg County – by a new strain of ransomware called LockCrypt. You can read about it here: Charlotte Observer News Story.
This ransomware attack scrambled data and documents, including backup files, and demanded a ransom of $23,000 for the code to unencrypt the files – essentially “paralyzing” the county government. Officials decided to not pay the ransom, since there was no assurance that they would get the code. They are working through restoration on their own and it will take several days to resolve.
The cause of this county government shutdown? An employee inadvertently opened an attachment that contained spyware and a worm. According to the above article, the sender appeared to be a fellow employee – making it seem to be a normal communication. However, it was not.
This is a reminder to all of us the importance of vigilant layers of security, including employee education.
Here are a few tips to reduce your risk:
If you suspect an attack or virus, do NOT reboot. Disconnect the PC/device from the network and call us immediately.
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