Why thinking of the pub may save you from ransomware.

Ransomware attacks are not fussy about who they target and more than doubled in the last year, affecting home users and businesses large and small.

What Is Ransomware?

The clue is in the name – effectively all of the information that you have on your computer is ‘kidnapped’; to get your data back you are told that you need to pay the ‘ransom’.

There have been several high-profile cases of late whereby large multi-national companies have been hit with ransomware and have paid out millions to get their data unencrypted. Surely, with funds reaching these amounts, no criminal is going to bother targeting me and my computer here in at home with silly ransomware?

Getting through the security of large companies may be more financially rewarding, but it’s also far more difficult. Getting through the security you have, or do not have, on your laptop as you glance up to look out of the window is a darn sight easier.

Ransomware is on the rise and targeting you and thousands of other ‘yous’ will reap enough of a reward for you to be worth targeting.

Taking ransomware to the PUB?

No, we don’t mean let’s go for a drink down the local, pleasant as that may be – we are alluding to the anacronym Protect, Update, Backup.

By Protect we mean having a good quality antivirus installed.

Update applies to everything – those annoying updates you tend to bypass as they just interfere are there for good reason, so ensure all devices and all programs/software are on the latest versions.

And backup – we recommend a specific cloud-based backup system that automatically backs up your files without you having to remember to do so. Should we lose access to one of our computers we can still access our data.

Doing all we can to protect our computers moves us further out of site of online criminals. The more you do to keep yourself protected, the lower the chances of getting hit.