How Ransomware Held Police Hostage
Megacode Malware Takes Hold Of Police Servers
As the ransomware problem heats up, even police servers aren’t safe!
Just a few weeks ago, Megacode cryptoware brought down four police offices and a sheriff’s department with a server attack and put sensitive personal and police data at risk. It’s no longer just private businesses who choose are affected by online ransom demands when it comes to ransomware, and even the police are starting to give in.
Businesses without the right IT support often get hit the hardest because they are:
1.) Missing the Right Guidance: Navigating in the Dark
Without regular technology advice or the manpower to implement the right IT security solutions and safeguards- It’s no coincidence that the police departments hit by the Megacode malware attacks were small to midsize offices.
Similarly, if your organization has been scraping by with ad-hoc technology and doesn’t have regular IT support and guidance, many task items and issues can easily fall through the cracks.
Your company teams focus in on keeping clients happy and getting their best work done on time. So when it comes down to choosing between helping a distressed customer or going through an antivirus update, chances are those small but critical details easily get pushed aide.
Decision Paralysis: Too Many Choices, Too Much Technology
Finding the right security solutions to suit your business needs can be extremely overwhelming when you are faced head-on with the endless variety of options on the market. Without a trusted IT firm to provide guidance, many organizations find themselves putting off the implementation of security solutions when it can “wait until tomorrow.”
Throw in all of the tasks necessary to maintain your office technologies, and it’s easy to see why many cybercriminals are increasingly targeting local businesses throughout the Bay Area.
Without the help of the right outsourced IT team, the police departments quickly found themselves struggling to fight back against Megacode attacking their networks and holding their servers hostage.
2.) Don’t Forget to Lock Up! Unaware Users Invite Attacks
Your users strive to help your business grow, and as they stay focused on your success, they may unknowingly be enabling the very cybercriminals who are constantly fighting to take your IT systems down!
Having the appropriate policies in place (for example, implementing BYOD policies), working with a regular computer and IT support provider and making tech help training materials from your help desk readily available can all help your organization cut back on user error related vulnerabilities and greatly decease the number of strategic mistakes made in daily operations.
When it comes to your business and office technology, think of things this way:
“It’s like a jail- it’s very safe and secure, but that can mean nothing if you leave the door unlocked”– Sheriff Brackett, victim of Megacode
3.) Spotting An Attack: Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire
Users Need to Know How to Recognize When Something’s Wrong: It’s the only way to stop attacks
Ask your IT firm to provide you with the training materials and quick-reference information necessary to make sure your users know how to recognize malware attacks.
This is essential to keeping attacks from spreading
As soon as any device on your network has been infected it is absolutely crucial that your employees and management team be able to recognize
As Soon As They Happen –> Which enables faster response times and gives IT support teams the chance to minimize/ stop the damage from getting worse
4.) Data Recovery: Bulletproofing Your Business Data
Without data recovery options, organizations such as the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office are faced with the touogh choice of having to either pay up or start over from scratch. Don’t let this be you!
Your people are there to focus in on what an antivirus goes out of
Without proper IT support, many businesses…
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