Alert: A New Ransomware Attack
This morning, June 27, 2017, we are seeing another ransomware attack. Like last month’s Wanna Cry virus it is appearing to target the healthcare industry.
As of right now, we don’t know that much about this version of the ransomware, but it appears to be aggressive and spreading faster than past versions.
Here is what you need to know to prevent being a victim:
- Be sure your systems are up to date.
- Alert the help desk if you believe you’ve been targeted and never pay ransom that’s demanded of you.
- These cyber criminals will tell you that they will return what they took if you pay… but you can pay and they still won’t live up to their promise. It will also encourage them to attack again.
- Often times, if you pay them, they will keep targeting your company and the potential to be re-infected increases. REMEMBER – they’re criminals.
- Be aware of the various social engineering tactics hackers employ in an attempt to get you to click links and open attachments.
- If you open an attachment that tells you that you need to enable macros,run it by us first.
- If you have clicked on a link accidentally and realized it right after the fact, contact the help desk right away (even if you are not sure). Our help desk would always rather you be safe than sorry.The call could potentially save you and other users from day or more of downtime and lost data.
- Once the data is encrypted there is no way to undo it without the encryption key (which remember, is in the possession of cyber criminals who can’t be trusted).
Encourage employees to reach out to the help desk if they suspect that they may be infected or they accidentally clicked on a suspicious link.
The best fight against ransomware is education of users and good backups.
If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the help desk at
helpdesk@verticalsol.com or call 412-220-5751.