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It would be no exaggeration to say that computers have become an essential part of every business. Sending emails, processing company data in excel, writing reports or preparing presentations are some examples of the many tasks that are done using machines. This makes sense since computers are able to complete cumbersome and time-consuming tasks in the blink of an eye, saving a lot of time and money in the process. In addition, computers have replaced written documents to a large extent. Long gone are the days of storing employee credentials or balance sheets to archive. Nowadays everything is stored electronically in hard drives which is a lot faster and saves a lot of space.

The thing is that, these advancements brought along new kinds of problems, the most crucial of which is that now data has become a major target for hacking. In the old days someone had to break into the company’s office in order to steal confidential information but now, all an intruder has to do is to gain access to the hard drives. How does a hacker achieve this you may ask? There are a number of ways but, in this article, we will examine the most common way of obtaining data: ransomware.

It’s quite possible that you have heard this term before, it is a very common type of cyber-attack. As the name implies, ransomware is a special software which a hacker takes control of the data on your computer and demands payment to return it. It’s quite popular in the hacking world for its ease of implementation and effectiveness. It does not require a lot of technical expertise so even less skillful hackers can use it. It is interesting to note that, there are multiple types of ransomware, in fact there is a whole family of them. This however is beyond the scope of this article, for now we will examine the two major ways with which ransomware is distributed.

Spam

In this case a hacker has prepared a legit looking email that contains malicious code and it sends it to multiple recipients. If a user makes the mistake of opening the email, the code is installed in his computer and infects it. The hacker now has control of your machine and has access to your files and data. This type of attack can be easily avoided if the user is properly informed.

Exploit kits

Are a collection of software that allows the hacker to scan and detect vulnerabilities in a users machine, most commonly while users are browsing the web. Thankfully there are measures you can take to prevent successful breaches such as reducing the attack surface, block known malware and exploits, and quickly identify new threats.

All this can sound scary and intimidating to a business owner, however we want to emphasize that there are effective measures you can take.

With over three decades of experience, IT Net Pros is here to help you implement successful and powerful security measures in order to protect yourself and your business.

Contact us today to schedule a comprehensive risk and backup assessment.

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