One of the worst feelings in the world is walking into work and finding out all of your data has been hacked and is now being held hostage. But of course, if you have an active online backup and recovery service in place, then you know it won’t be as bad as it seems. A popular form of attack for cyber criminals today is ransomware. When the hacker gets into your computer, the files will be encrypted and a screen will pop up demanding a ransom to get them back. What’s the first thing you should do when this happens?
Don’t Pay The Ransom
The first reaction you may have is to pay the ransom in order to get your sensitive files back. This is exactly what the hackers want you to do. But what they won’t tell you is they may or may not give you the files back, even if you do pay the ransom. All you’re doing is encouraging more criminal activity, and since you paid, you will likely be targeted again in the future. The best IT support for small business owners will walk you through the steps to take to get your files back, but don’t make the mistake of paying the ransom right away.
Disconnect The Computer From The Network
Disconnecting your computer from the network entirely will reduce the likelihood of other computers getting infected. A disaster recovery plan is much easier to put into action on one computer, rather than an entire network. Work with your online backup and recovery service for the next steps to retrieve your files once your computer is not connected to the main network anymore.
Put Your Disaster Recovery Plan to Work
All of your planning and preparation is finally going to pay off when you put your disaster recovery plan to action. Of course, you never hope to have to use it, but now is the perfect time. Your online backup and recovery service can get your files back to the last time they were backed up. As for your infected computer, you can install an anti-malware scanner to remove the virus. This can be complicated, so working with the an IT support company will make the process easier.
Single Point of Contact wants to help ensure you are protected from ransomware and other malicious attacks, as well as help you retrieve files in the event of a cyber attack. Whether you have the best network protection in place in your organization or not, we are here to help. Having your data being held hostage is scary, but when you contact us, we will demonstrate how we can help prevent it from happening or help you recover easily.
