The variety of malware known as ransomware erupted in popularity in 2016, encrypting victims’ files and demanding cryptocurrency payments to restore the data to the estimated tune of $1 billion. This may imply that large corporations are the primary targets of these cyber criminals; for some cyber criminals, they are.
Run your Windows Updates and be very skeptical about opening unsolicited emails. Failure to do so may result in a very dangerous strain of ransomware that could infect your entire network and spread to your clients, partners, and prospects.
Ransomware, the unpleasant form of malware dedicated to denying users access to their own device, has become more prominent with mobile technology. While ransomware is typically associated with desktop computers, it’s fully capable of infecting mobile devices. Therefore, it should be no surprise that cases Mobile-based ransomware have increased nearly four-fold in the past year.
It’s been two years since the world was introduced to CryptoLocker, a particularly-nasty ransomware that encrypts a computer’s data while giving the user a deadline to pay a ransom for the encryption key, or else have their data destroyed. What we’re seeing now is that the reach of CryptoLocker is extending beyond the average PC user; even gamers are getting owned by Cryptolocker.
Ransomware is such a popular method of attack used by hackers that new variants of it pop up every few months. Among these is Petya, a nasty new ransomware that masquerades as an unsolicited resume in an organization’s email inbox. Don’t be fooled, though; the only work these hackers are looking for is to work you out of a couple hundred dollars.
