The Cyber Threat That Holds Your Data For Ransom

What is ransomware?

Ransomware is malicious software that attacks your data, making it unusable to you, and then presents you with a demand for payment in order to restore your data to a usable state. Normally ransomware will encrypt your data to accomplish making it unusable. The malware will state that once you make payment, it’ll decrypt your data.

What sort of data can ransomware attack?

Any data can be attacked by ransomware, no matter where it’s stored. If the data can be accessed from the computer that gets compromised with ransomware, it is vulnerable. This includes data stored on cloud services like Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive. The malware can also be written to target just about any file type. It could go after your Quickbooks files, Office documents like Word docs and Excel spreadsheets, any just about anything else.

Can ransomware be avoided?

There are a lot of things a business can do to limit their risk. A layered approach to security is typically the best option - there is no one-stop solution to protection. For example, there is no one anti-virus software that will be able to protect you from all ransomware threats. At Round Table Networks, we place protections at multiple layers, from training end-users to filtering internet access.

Is there a way to recover without paying the ransom?

Only if you’ve prepared ahead of time. Backup and Business Continuity systems are critical in order for your business to be positioned to recover from a compromise. At Round Table Networks, we use state-of-the-art business continuity systems to provide our last layer of defense, allowing us to recover data quickly in the event a malware threat makes it past the other layers of security.