THE THREAT

Not so long ago, email scams were very popular. In most cases, a “Nigerian Prince” would ask the email recipient to send money or a small investment back to him. This advance-fee con became easily recognizable from the poor grammar and tone of the message. The scam continued for several years because it worked. This particular fraud is now a thing of the past and not many would fall victim today, but scammers and hackers are still on the attack and at a much more sophisticated level. Inconspicuous and malicious software is on the rise and causing problems for organizations around the globe.


A local Minnesota manufacturing company was recently targeted twice in just a matter of days. An employee clicked on a link that was emailed to him from his bank. Or what he thought was his bank. The email looked professionally written, had his correct contact information, had the bank’s contact information, the bank’s logo, and their mission statement.

Moments later the dreaded pop-up appeared:

This employee fell victim to Ransomware. The email link sent from his “bank”  initiated a program that encrypted all of his computer files. In addition, his locked screen message implied he had clicked on something illegal or unethical, neither of which was the case. He had two options: pay the ransom or restore his files from backup.

THE OPTIONS

Their initial reaction was the quick fix. Pay the ransom to make it go away. But could they trust a criminal to help? Perhaps…Maybe? The answer is too uncertain so, paying the ransom was not a recommended option.

Their best option was to restore files from their backup.

A few days later, this same scenario happened to yet another employee at the company. Luckily their system was restored from a backup created just one hour earlier. Other than a little embarrassment and minimal down time, they didn’t lose any files and were back on track in no time.

Criminals are getting more and more sophisticated and ransomware attacks will, without a doubt, continue. The good news is you can protect your organization and take preventative measures against Ransomware by implementing a Managed Services program.

A MANAGED SERVICES PROGRAM PROVIDES REACTIVE AND PROACTIVE SERVICES, as well as strategic planning.

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