To beat ransomware prevent it
The menace of ransomware has placed it in a category of its own called scareware. What is it? How does it work?
Imagine that you have worked on a business project, a school project or a home video project. You have spent hours putting it all together. The business charts. The years of photos replaying memories. The detail of class learning. When you finish the project you do a Save As to copy the file onto a small thumb drive.
Suddenly, a message pops up which says,
“Unfortunately, the files on this computer have been encrypted. You have 96 hours to submit payment to receive the encryption key, otherwise your files will be permanently destroyed.”
That’s the message of ransomware. You are held captive by the demand of a ransom. Pay or lose your computer files. And the solution at that point is to pay and hope there is some honesty in the threat. Or to unplug from the Internet, wipe your Hard Drive Disk clean and start over from scratch.
There is no present solution to ransomware. Once the hacker’s encryption file has engaged the loss is real. The best solution to ransomware is to prevent the ransomware attacker from gaining access. Ever. At all. An ounce prevention is better than a pound of cure. And if there is no cure…
Malwarebytes is considered by many as the premiere antivirus and anti-malware provider. They describe two other types of scareware. Rogue Security and Tech Support scams. The Rogue Security claims to have made a scan and discovered malware on your machine. To get rid of the malware you must pay the Rogue Security invaders. Or there are those who claim your computer is vulnerable and offer on the spot Tech Support for immediate payment. Both of these scams can be cleaned out with anti-malware provided at no cost from Malwarebytes.
But the screen locker type of ransomware means you have no access to our computer. A full system restore might regain control, but your personal files will still be encrypted and so unusable.
The best solution is prevention. Alliant’s Anti-virus support can keep you out in front of this kind of destructive cybercrime. If you have any questions give Alliant a call at (626) 461-1300. Today!
