Ransomware is a term used throughout the world of technology. It is one of the big dangers and one of the main things that you should be extremely careful of while on the internet. Yet you might not know what ransomware actually is and the dangers that come with it. This can be a problem if you are a small business owner (or just somebody with a lot of tech) and you don’t know how to protect yourself. Here is a quick rundown of what ransomware is and what it could do to your technology.
What is ransomware?
Ransomware is a type of malware. To learn more about the intricacies of ransomware, click here, but as the name suggests, it will hold something ransom, usually by locking a device that the malware is on, until the attacker, the one who is holding the device hostage, gets what they want.
This, more often than not, is some sort of financial request for a very large sum of money. If this sum is not paid by a certain time, the attacker may threaten to expose or delete data on the device. Even if this sum is then paid by the victim, however, the attacker will often take the money and leave the device locked, unsurprisingly not keeping up their end of the bargain. As a result, you can take it for granted that ransomware is very dangerous to both business owners and individuals.
How can businesses and individuals protect themselves against ransomware?
This is a tricky subject to approach. This is because of how versatile and unpredictable ransomware can be. It can be in the form of adware, or it can use social engineering such as phishing or baiting to make its way onto a device. This is the sort of thing that makes ransomware so dangerous and sets it apart from other forms of malware.
However, there are some ways that you can attempt to avoid ransomware. Here are a few:
- Be careful of phishing and baiting. If you find a USB that is not yours, do not install it into one of your devices. Do not click on any suspicious links either, especially if they are sent from an unknown source.
- Do not download or install any software that you have not done enough research into. You need to make sure that they are legitimate and that what you are downloading doesn’t have anything suspicious about it. You can do this by reading reviews, looking into recommendations on blog sites, and looking for alternatives.
- Make sure that you have a recently updated backup of all of your files on an off-site, separate and secure facility. This can mean that you still have access to your files without needing to pay the ransom.
To sum everything up
In conclusion, there are a lot of reasons to fear ransomware. However, by making sure that you have a backup of your files elsewhere, as well as being aware of phishing and baiting, you can begin to put up a strong defense against ransomware and cut down your chances of falling victim to these types of attacks.
