Unexpected Lessons Learned From Cleaning Up Ransomware

Surely everyone knows about ransomware now and are probably sick of hearing about buying protective solutions. But, it is not the time to become complacent.

Maybe you think a ransomware or other malware attack won't happen to you and you put off preparing for it until another day. But please take this seriously now. It is not a question of "if" you will get hit. It is a question of how well you are prepared "when" you get hit.

We here at Nashville Computer have seen ransomware, malware, viruses, etc. infecting company networks at epidemic proportions.

From cleaning up ransomware for some of our clients, who very wisely did have their defenses in place, we have learned that there can be unexpected data loss due to simple human error. A little training could have easily prevented this problem.

Here are 4 things you can do now, to be prepared for a cyber attack.

#1 - Have the right tools in place to prevent the attack. Anti-virus and Anti-spam solutions are no longer enough to prevent these attacks. Those solutions work by preventing known threats. You need a solution that recognizes a threat behavior whether it is known or not and actually stops it in its tracks, such as SentinelOne.

#2 - Train Your Employees. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Your team is no different. Your employees may be lacking basic skills you don't even think of. For instance, in cleaning up ransomware for one of our clients, there was unrecoverable data because employees did not understand how to store their data on the server instead of on their computer. When the server files were restored, their files were missing because of being stored on their desktop or in their documents folder. This was a very simple misunderstanding, but could be devastating, if important files were lost.

#3 - Don't ignore signs or symptoms. Ransomware will be very obvious, there will be a ransom note on your monitor. But you may tend to ignore if your computer is slow or file names are changing. Perhaps you will see strange extensions on your files. Don't ignore this. Shut your computer down and consult with professional IT support. Better to be safe than sorry.

#4 - Ask for help. Have a professional IT company monitor and maintain your networks, give you advice and help train your staff.

Call Nashville Computer at 615-645-1144 today for information on our guaranteed security solution, SentinelOne or to schedule staff training from our cyber security experts. Our knowledge and expertise could save your company.