COVID-19 has caused global disruption to the workplace, and with more people working remotely Ransomware is emerging as a growing trend.

Employees working from home on their company or personal computers are being targeted by cybercriminals, trying to exploit security gaps they might not otherwise have the opportunity to.

Here’s the scenario…

You’re happily working away at home, but you can’t open files that you could access earlier. If you are using Windows you might see the error message – ‘Windows can’t open this file.’ If it’s a Mac, you’ll see – ‘No associated application.’

Then you notice your computer is not working as smoothly as before.  In a worst-case scenario (yes, things could be worse), you might not even be able to log into your system. If you are aware of cybersecurity and online threats , you might have a suspicion about what is happening.

But your worst fears are confirmed when you see the message: Your files are encrypted.

You panic. and don’t know what to do. Not many of us will remain cool, calm, and collected if we lose access to important files on our computer.

You’ve been hit by a ransomware attack.

How this could have happened? What did you do wrong, with respect to cybersecurity and cyber hygiene?

Thinking back, you remember receiving an email that looked a bit ‘dodgy.’ You downloaded the attachment which contained garbled message and you just closed and forgot all about it. You now know this file was the culprit. It carried a ransomware payload that infected your computer.

This is just one of the ways ransomware might take over your computer. Ransomware can access a computer when you visit a malicious website that downloads a malware onto your computer. Or an attacker might have exploited a security weakness on frequently used software to plant ransomware on your system.

The attack vectors (path or means by which a hacker gains access to a computer or network server) are growing even as we speak. So, you need to be careful.

When it comes to ransomware, prevention is always better than cure.

IPEX Technologies protects its client devices and endpoints with SOPHOS who are leaders in the Gartner Magic Quadrant. Get in touch for more info@ipextech.co.uk.