F1 Solutions wants to alert all of our clients to a new and pervasive virus called CryptoLocker that is going around. Ransomware! The FBI and other agencies have seen a huge tick up of Ransomware occurrences in the last month. We know of several episodes in North Alabama in recent weeks. There are several different ways that you can unintentionally download this virus. And they can sometimes get through your firewall. This Malware always includes clicking on an email or website that is infected. You may get an email that says you have a voice mail waiting and to click here to listen. Since many companies have this function in their phone system, it would be easy to assume it was legit. This malware would then encrypt your hard drive and send you an alert that if you pay $300 to an off shore account, they will send you the key to access your data back. If the ransom is paid there is a 50-50 shot that you will be given the access key. Once you see this screen you are at their mercy! All that can be done is to wipe the system and reload from backup.
How to prevent this:
DO NOT CLICK ON ANYTHING QUESTIONABLE. If you get an e-mail that seems suspicious, hover your mouse over the link BUT DO NOT CLICK. Look at the link’s origination and see if it looks legitimate. Or better yet delete it. F1 does not allow executable files to go through our spam filter. This is one way it deploys. This will help greatly, but will not stop human error. F1 is keeping antivirus updated, but teach your users not to click on suspicious email. If it seems out of the blue, but legitimate, call us!
Make sure you are getting a good backup. Although we do handle this for most of our clients, some have found other options. Please make sure you are getting current and successful backups.
Do not allow your employees to use personal webmail accounts like Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail. These bypass our spam filter protections. We can also block personal webmail with your permissions. Let us know.
For more information on Ransomware, visit this website.
