Ransomware is a malignant software that acts as an administrator and takes over the access rights of the data stored in a computer or a laptop. This is a popular virus in the world known for hitting five major countries across the globe. After taking over the data rights, the hackers force the data owners to pay ransom in order to get the access rights back, however, in most cases, even after the payment, the rights are not gained back fully.
To recover this data back from the attackers, comes at a great price - from a million dollar to hundred million dollars in cryptocurrency is what you need to pay in order to get your data back. Once, this payment is done then the decryption key flashes on the system screen of the poor victim.
One major reason for the growth of Ransomware worldwide is the untraceable payment mode; generally, bitcoin.
➔ Gain insights about Ransomware - how does it work and what is the solution for it?
The venomous software was in news for so many days for attacking 99 countries drastically is now spreading over the world quickly. Indeed, it is a parasite of the online world, for whom, the host is the data present in the systems in various parts of the world!
Ransomware gets into the system via a pipeline of an email containing a spam email attachment. Once this attachment is downloaded and opened the host system becomes the victim of this harmful software. Not Petya is a form of this malicious software that affects the security policies of the victim’s system drastically without letting him know. However, the silver lining is that everything has an antidote and so does Ransomware virus:
Ransomware is a silent killer that does not affect the system by giving a prior notice or warning. It is extremely quick, therefore, it does not give the user the time to understand what exactly it is and how to save the system from it. However, now as the world knows how to control the effect of this venomous software, the effect of it has minimized a little. The sad news is, there are no fixed steps for saving your system from Ransomware, but, a few tips can be considered as some useful measures as protection of data present in the hard drive. These measures will also protect your system against any other malicious software.
● Always update your windows operating system on a regular intervals
● Install an antivirus that helps you detect any malware software and Ransomware software as soon as they enter your computer
● Ensure all your data is backed up after regular intervals. Note, this will not minimize the effect of Ransomware, but, will act as a Recovery Assurance of all your valuable information, it will be easier for you to function smoothly without much of a hassle.
● Change your habits that can put in trouble later. Try downloading stuff online from reliable websites.
However, to be cautious, try not to open any email that seems fishy in the first place. If you have received an unknown email in your inbox, avoid opening any attachments tagged along with email. If you see any email in your inbox or spam box, instantly, follow the below-mentioned steps:
➔ Reboot the Windows to safe mode
➔ Download an antivirus
➔ Scan your entire system with the help of this antivirus
➔ If something is found, let the antivirus take care of it by resolving the issues
If your luck supports you, then this may help in removing any data or related to Ransomware. This does save a lot of bucks that you otherwise had to pay as a ransom to protect or gain the most valuable asset you have - DATA!
➔ Why having a backup server is essential for a business?
To protect your data from any physical or technical disaster, backup is all that you need. It acts like a doctor to your data. Backups are a little costly, however, it is better to invest on a backup system rather than paying the ransom amount later on to the attackers; even then there is no surety of getting the entire data as it is.
The data is the most precious thing in the business world, every day more than 2.3 million zettabyte data is being created online. Remember, your business revolves around data now. Done are the days, when human resources were the only link factors related to useful data. Now the internet has it all - virus, malware software, and the antidote for all these!