You may or may not be familiar with Ransomware by now. If you are not let me explain what this is. I would argue that this form of infection is one of the nastiest threats to user data and computer out on the Internet today. In basic terms once this Ransomware installs on your computer, it encrypts all your data from Microsoft Office data, pictures and videos just to name a few. Your computer until recently worked without any issues. But when you went to open a Word document or Excel spreadsheet for example, you will not be able to. The file will be encrypted and useless. The only way to unlock these encrypted files would be to pay a ransom to the hackers and if you are in luck they would send you the un-encryption file. Personal costs could range from $100-$600 but in business those costs could be in the thousands.
Recent versions of this Ransomware virus take it one step further. The nastiest in this area, if it couldn't get any worse, not only encrypts your data but encrypts your Master Boot Record making your computer totally useless until you have paid the ransom.
If you are angry at this as am I, you have to ask yourself, so the question is now what?? Well you may not protect your system totally from getting infected but I can sure help you with details in protecting yourself as well as protecting your computer and data from this type of hit. Let's get started.
Protect my data
The easiest and best way to protect your system from this type of threat is to make sure you backup your data. Don't just backup once but backup at least once a day. How do I do this? I recommend backing up your data locally and remotely. Local backups I would recommend doing once a week to an external hard drive. Never leave your external hard drive plugged into your system. Run the backup and the remove the drive. If your drive is connected when your system gets hit with a Ransomware virus, it can and will infect your backup as well. Off-site backups I recommend doing daily with a proper subscription to a service. Dropbox, Onedrive or Sync will not work here. You need a subscription to a service like Carbonite or iDrive. Once you have your subscription you install the program, mark your data folders for backup and then schedule it for once a day, normally overnight or sometime during the day. I recommend iDrive as you can backup multiple computers to one account where Carbonite only allows one computer per Personal account.
Once you have your data backed up recovering from a Ransomware hit is easy. Remove the virus from your system, delete the corrupted data on your system and restore. Of course it is more involved then this but for the sake of this blog, I won't go into great details.
Protect your computer
The latest Ransomware to hit the Internet is called Satana Ransomware and Petya Ransomware. Both not only encrypt your data files but also restart your computer and encrypt your whole computer, making it useless till you have paid. So I have to ask, is your frustration level getting high yet? If you get hit with this version the only option is to format your hard drive and reinstall Windows and all your programs. What a pain in the butt!! Well I have a solution for you.
The best way to combat this type of attack is to have a current or recent image of your entire hard drive. For this you will need an external hard drive and an imaging software program. You can use the same external hard drive you are using for your local backups of data. Just save the image into a Image folder and you are done. This imaging does not need to be done all the time. A lot here depends on how often you install new programs. So if you are not a big program installer then I would say once or twice a month will do just fine. If you are a big program user and are always installing and uninstalling programs, then your imaging will need to be more often.
So what software should I use? I recommend subscribing to Acronis True Image Cloud. This is a great product that will not only allow you to backup locally but also to your Acronis Cloud account. Check out this video for more details. You can also purchases Acronis True Image 2016, a downloadable program for local backup only. Anyone of these products will offer you a current image of your computer to recover from in the event your entire system becomes unusable.
How to protect against getting infected
First thing to remember is that you can get this and other Malware and Virus from either an email attachment, link or website. Never ever just click on a link in an email. It is way too easy to have a link look like it's taking you to a certain website and redirect you to a malicious location. Here is a safe example. Click here to get to CNN, http://www.cnn.com .
Never just click ad open an attachment, especially if you were not expecting anything. Even if it comes from a friend, co-worker or relative. It's too easy these days to make an email look like it's coming from someone you know.
Never click on ad's on a website, especially those for great deals, banks, travel, etc. This is a perfect spot for hackers to put malicious links and data.
So the question you must have is, now what do I do? Sounds like I should be paranoid. Well yes in a way you should be paranoid to a point. If someone sends you an email, pick up the phone and ask them what they sent you. Always better to confirm then to be sorry. If you get onto a website by accident because you typed in the web address wrong and a warning comes up telling you that your system is infected and you should call this number, DON'T. Close your browser and start again. If your computer acts strange, run a complete scan of your system with your Anti-virus and Malware programs.
What protection should I install
I highly recommend you have a good PAID anti-virus program, at least two good Malware protection programs and an Anti- Ransomware program. Here are a few samples.
Virus protection
You don't need to have the big security suite from any company as it usually is way too much.
Malware Protection
Final Thought
At the end of the day, you need to remember these few things.
- Always use PAID products. A yearly subscription is cheap compared to the risk of loosing data and time trying to recover.
- Never just click on a link, or the next button when installing something. Always ready the screen and don't be in such a hurry. Slowing down may just save you from a hit.
- Banks, Government will never email your data with a request for info.
- Never click a link. Go to the actual website the link is talking about and search for what they are trying to see you. Be safe then sorry.
- No such thing as FREE or a really great deal. Always call the company and ask if it sounds too good to be true. If you want something for FREE ask a friend or relative to take you out for dinner. Other than that forget it.
- Lastly just be smart. Look at the website. A messing or cluttered website is something to just stay away from. Ask someone about a website if you are not sure. Never just click on a link in an email or open an attachment. Be smart and ask questions.
Good luck!!
