You may or may not have heard of the latest attack that is happening on small to medium businesses, which is encrypting all of a user’s files on their PC until they pay a certain ransom. The latest, and one of the most severe attacks is out in the wild and is being called WannaCrypt.
WannaCrypt can be run on a user’s PC by clicking on a malicious email on an unpatched system and then running code in the background without the user even knowing. You would then be prompted with a message to pay up, or your files will be deleted.
How can you protect yourself from this type of attack? The best way to prevent ransom ware attacks are as follows:
- Make sure all of your computers and devices are up to date. If you get an error while checking for updates, this should be fixed right away.
- Another good practice is to never click on ANY links from an email! Even if you know the person, it does not necessarily mean they are the ones you sent the email. Their account may have been compromised and spamming out emails beyond their control.
If you have any questions at all, or would like to share this information, go for it! Spread the word and help to protect your friends and family’s important data.