By now, most of us are aware of ransomware and what it is.  Hopefully, you don’t have first hand experience of a ransomware infection, but if you do, you know just how bad it is. 

Historically, ransomware has been a tool for cyber criminals to extort money from you to unlock your data.  When a system is infected with ransomware, all of the files get encrypted (locked) so that you can no longer access those files and the bad guys hold the key to unlock those files for a ransom.  If you have a good backup, you can recover your data without paying the bad guys, but if there is no backup or your recovery time to restore from backup will take a long time (days), then you might be forced into paying the ransom to the bad guys to get the keys to your data.

Now, there is a new wave of ransomware that has emerged in the past few months, where the bad guys will not only encrypt your data for ransom, but they will also try to extort additional money from you to prevent them from releasing your data to your customers, clients or publicly.   This means that this new form of ransomware is actually taking the data from your systems and putting in the hands of these criminals, not just locking the data on your system.  Talk about a PR and compliance nightmare!

There is no better time than now to review your security policies and procedures, enhance your protection and test your backups to ensure your systems are protected as best as possible to prevent this from happening to you. 

Not sure where your organization stands?  We offer a free basic security assessment to make sure you have critical protections in place.  Or give us a call at 951-653-9562.