In recent years, the number of ransomware attacks has increased. These attacks are invasive, expensive, and avoidable. As a Southern California bookkeeping service, we thought we would share with our readers some things you can do to help prevent them from happening to you.
First things first, to avoid something you need to know how it infects. The most malicious way is through an exploit kit. An exploit kit becomes a problem when an internet visitor encounters an infected website. The site will download malintended code in the background of your visit. It can also happen when code takes advantage of a vulnerability in software on your computer. It utilizes a backdoor of sorts to invade your computer and encrypt the files. Backdoor styled exploits are most common on computers that don’t update every time an update is available.
Then there are clickable links or downloadable content in emails. An email with malicious design often appears to come from someone you know. This issue results in trust being attributed to the link or download and the malware taking over. The multiple methods of protecting yourself from these items should start to become evident knowing how they invade in the first place.
Use an email provider that scans all of your emails and flags anything with suspicious origins or content. Gmail is one provider that has proven effective at warning customers. If you haven’t heard from a particular friend in a while, contact them through other means to verify if the email with a link or a download is legitimate or not.
Keep your computer updated at all times. Don’t hesitate to install that big push from Windows, or Linus, or Apple. It may be the update that prevents ransomware from taking over your system.
Maintain a backup for your computer system. A daily or weekly backup of your files and system will ensure you don’t lose much in the event you have to wipe your computer to get rid of the ransomware. And yes, factory resetting will eliminate the software on the machine, thereby getting rid of the program that took over.
Use a browser that will notify you if a website has been flagged for malware. Then heed the warnings you’re given. If you know someone at the site, make certain to notify them their site is compromised. It’s not uncommon for the search engines to identify it before the website owner.
For more information on how a California bookkeeping company can help you prevent a ransomware attack of your vital business data contact us today!
