Golden rule - 5

Security Awareness (Ransomware & Threats)

I wanted to drop you a friendly reminder about the sneaky little menace known as ransomware.

Now, you may be thinking, "But Sasha, I have backups! I'm safe!" Well, hold on to your floppy disks, my friend, because ransomware can actually go after your  backups too. Talk about adding insult to injury! That means if your backup support isn't protected, those backups might as well be as useless as a broken keyboard.

So don't let your backups fall victim to those cyber-criminals. Protect them like they're the last slice of pizza in a room full of hungry teenagers.

How it spreads:

• Phishing emails with infected attachments or links

• Compromised websites or downloads

• Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) or network vulnerabilities

• USB drives or other removable media

Why it’s dangerous:

1. Data loss: Your important files can become inaccessible.

2. Financial cost: Attackers demand money, sometimes thousands of dollars.

3. Business disruption: Systems and operations can be halted.

4. Reputation risk: Especially for organizations if sensitive data is affected.

Prevention Tips:

• Backup regularly: Keep offline or cloud backups.

• Update systems: Apply security patches and software updates.

• Educate users: Avoid suspicious emails, links, and downloads.

• Use antivirus/endpoint protection: Detect and block malware.

• Limit privileges: Don’t give unnecessary admin access to users or apps.

Response Steps if infected:

1. Isolate the infected device from the network immediately.

2. Do not pay the ransom unless absolutely necessary.

3. Restore files from backups if available.

4. Report the incident to authorities and follow internal IT protocols.

5. Investigate the breach to prevent future attacks.