Defending Against Phishing, Malware, and Cyber Crime

As you may have heard, ransomware attacks have been highlighted in the media lately. The focus of these ransomware attacks is to lock or encrypt files. Once access is gained the data is encrypted and held for ransom. We would like to take this time to raise awareness about this issue.

Here are some tips on how to best protect your office from an infiltration:

• Make sure you have a reputable virus scanner installed on all your computers. The virus scanner should always be up to date and set to run nightly full system scans. For your server you should use a business class antivirus.
• Be sure that your Windows Operating System's Windows updates are current and up to date. Please see our system requirements for supported Windows operating systems. Keep applications that are installed on your computer up to date.
• Be careful about what websites you access. Unknown sites can be phishing sites (sites that allow hackers access to your computer/network). Use a web filter and an ad blocker.
• Be careful what emails you open. Emails can contain attachments or include links to other websites that, when opened, allow hackers access to your computer/network. Do not click on the links in unfamiliar emails. Use an email filter.
• Use strong passwords on every computer and user account.

If you'd like to know more about recent ransomware attacks, what they look like and more on how to help prevent this from happening to you, please see the links below:

• Defending against LogMeIn Phishing Scams
• Defending against Malware
• Ransomware variants proliferating. Why? Attacks pay off for cybercriminals​
• Malware Attacks On Hospitals Put Patients At Risk
• Fake Adobe Flash Update Installs Ransomware
• Ransomware Arrives via Email Attachment
• The Standard Antivirus Approach isn’t Enough
• 10 Ransomware Attacks You Should Know About in 2019