Imagine walking into your office one morning to find a padlock on your computer. Sitting at your desk is a masked criminal demanding $5,000 for the key. Naturally, you hesitate, to weigh the options. Do you pay this criminal, hoping the key works and he or she vanishes foreer? Or, do you ignore the criminal and spend days trying to recover your locked files?
This is what ransomware is like. It’s a type of malicious software that blocks access to computer systems until money is paid. Ransomware is one of the most pervasive threats to businesses today, especially with the emergence of crypto-ransomware, which encrypts files on victims' computers and holds them hostage until a payment is received.
The impact is huge: CrytpoWall reportedly infected hundreds of computers between April 2014 and June 2015, racking in approximately $18 million from victims who chose to pay.
Contrary to popular belief, the worst part of ransomware isn't even the ransom. The true damages occur due to employee down time, which can last for days, halting business operations and jeopardizing sales.
If you're daring, you can always try this ...
No, it's the fastest response, but not the proper one.
The best response is to do a better job at clouding all your data and apps, so you never have to use a smart terminal.