On Friday, May 12, 2017, a Ransomware virus was unleashed, infecting over 200,000 computers in over 150 countries. Known as the “WannaCry Virus”, this infected hospitals, schools, transportation systems, organizations and event governments, all faced a ransom demand of $300 in bitcoins.
This outbreak caused a lot of people to start asking questions on how to protect themselves from such an incident. How can they improve the security of their data and make sure that the data is protected, so if they contract an infection, their data is safe.
The answer is both more straightforward and more complex than expected. There is no single security software package that will provide full protection. That’s why it is important to do more than just installing a security software program. You need to consider proactive maintenance, password management, automatic backup and common sense when visiting websites and opening email messages.
Virus infections are targeting all types of computers (PC, Mac, tablet, iPhone, iPad, Android phones, Linux, etc.). All devices should have some type of paid security software installed. Be sure to check with your current software vendor to verify that your protection includes Anti-Virus, Anti-Spam, Anti-Malware, Anti-Ransomware, and Firewall protection. If your current software does not include these options, you may want to make a change.
There are 6 Strategies for protecting your digital identity:
- Make sure a trusted IT advisor handles software updates and security patches automatically and on a regular basis.
- Construct a protective barrier of security solutions around all of your devices and data.
- Be careful with suspicious emails, annoying pop-ups, and “too good to be true” ads or offers. Recommendation – Do not open an email if you don’t know who it’s from. And if the send is someone that you know, check the email address to see if it’s really them or a strange email address. Best solution is to call the sender and ask if they sent the message to you.
- Back up all of your data on a regular basis. This means that you need a solution that backs up “real-time” and not when you remember to plug in the flash drive or external hard drive.
- Use STRONG passwords and utilize the two-factor authentication protocol. Using Password123 is no longer a safe solution. You should consider a password that is at least 8 characters in length, including upper and lower case letters, at least 1 number, and special characters. For example, you may want to use something like this: B3rkL3yM1ch1g@N.
- Develop and implement employee security practices. Also confirm with your business insurance agent that you carry cyber liability insurance. This policy will help pay for the costs to notify and monitor all individuals for who you had data for, regardless if their data was compromised. Additionally it will pay to restore your own system.
Elite Networking & Consulting protects its customers by recommending a strong and intuitive security software program: Bitdefender Gravity Zone Business Security. The Advanced Threat Control module will watch your system for infected files and will delete them before you can open them (even if you don’t know that you downloaded them). They also have a service called a “Ransomware Vaccine”, which immunizes your machines against known ransomware blocking the encryption process even if the computer is infected.
One of the best benefits of Bitdefender is that it provides a web-based solution so both the customer and Elite Networking & Consulting can see the infections before they are noticed on the computer. The picture below shows a sample of the web solution.
Last, but not least, you need to have a high quality backup solution in place. Whether that is using a cloud-based product (Carbonite, Crash Plan, Datto, Mozy) or a solution proposed for your business by your IT Vendor. Backing up when you think of it to a flash drive or external hard drive, is not adequate any more. If you choose to back up to an local device, you should have a cloud-based product as the primary and the local backup as a secondary solution.
Elite Networking & Consulting offers their clients a very strong security software product that it inexpensive at a lower price than is advertised on their website. This is the benefit of working with an IT Professional.
If you would like additional information on the security products offered by Elite Networking & Consulting, please either call us at 855-767-9685, ext. 700 or send an email to service1@elite-nac.com.
Source: Elite Networking & Consulting