No doubt in the news over the weekend, you may have heard about a serious outbreak of a ransomware attack that have occurred overseas. The ransomware effectively encrypts all of the data on your network, and renders it unusable. Many large orgranisations around the world have been affected.
This is a timely reminder therefore that if you are receiving e-mails originating from apparently potentially legitimate sources, advising of some sort of transaction, with file attachments that you’re not expecting, or just plain unsure, the best option is to be safe than sorry.
Be aware that these e-mails are bogus, and opening any such attached files, or clicking on links within a suspicious email will actually initiate a virus on your network. The virus is of the cryptolocker variety, and can cause severe damage to your network, including the encryption of your data for ransom.
In most cases these viruses will result in the IRRETRIEVABLE LOSS OF YOUR DATA once it has been encrypted.
Whilst you may have the latest anti-virus software or e-mail SPAM filtering software, these e-mails have been crafted in such a way that these systems may not be effective in blocking these malicious e-mails 100% of the time.
If you, or any other user on your computer network receive an e-mail with an attached files, or any other e-mail that you’re not expecting, please delete it immediately. We advise you do NOT click on any links within, or open any attachments to the e-mail under any circumstances. Doing so may lead to irrecoverable loss of data on your network.
If your business needs to talk security, Contact Us.
For more about this outbreak from our trusted security partner Sophos, Click here.
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