Cyber Security is more important than ever in 2020. Per WPBF News, Arrigo Automotive Group in Palm Beach County, Florida, was hacked with ransomware on December 11,2019. This attack, which happened during one of the company’s busiest months of the year, left employees and management virtually paralyzed for several days until the company could install new devices. This violation cost the local automotive company $285,000 plus the loss of business transactions during that timeframe.

Arrigo shared: “They hack your system and demand X number of dollars or demand money to turn you back on.” Fortunately, Arrigo decided not to give in to the demands. “We’ve decided that we’re going to clean it all up, take it all out and start over again. ” While this situation seems to be dire, the company did share some excellent information: no personal data of customers or employees was compromised.

Unfortunately, these attacks have become ” the new normal” in today’s digital world, leading business owners to wonder: “How can we prevent this from happening to our company?” Norton has given a list of do’s and don’ts when it comes to ransomware:

1. Do not pay the ransom, it only encourages and funds these attackers. Even if the ransom is paid, there is no guarantee that you will be able to regain access to your files.
2. Restore any impacted files from a known good backup. restoration of your files from a backup is the fastest way to regain access to your data.
3. Do not provide personal information when answering an email, unsolicited phone call, text message or instant message. Phishers will try to trick employees into installing malware or gain intelligence for attacks by claiming to be from IT. Be sure to contact your IT department if you or your coworkers receive suspicious calls.
4. Use reputable antivirus software and a firewall. Maintaining a strong firewall and keeping your security software up to date are critical. It is important to use antivirus software from a reputable company because of all the fake software out there.
5. Do employ content scanning and filtering on your mail servers. Inbound e-mails should be scanned for known threats and should block any attachment types that could pose a threat.
6. Do make sure that all systems and software are up to date with relevant patches. Exploit kits hosted on compromised websites are commonly used to spread malware. Regular patching of vulnerable software is necessary to help prevent infection.
7. If traveling, alert your IT department beforehand, especially if you are going to be using public wireless Internet. Make sure you use a trustworthy Virtual Private Network (VPN) when accessing public Wi-Fi like Norton Secure VPN.

Contact Daruma Tech today to make sure that your company and clients are well protected from ransomware.