What if your money or hard work all disappeared? Poof. What would you do? Who would you call? How do you get it all back?
And how did it happen? Who are these thieves? What good is your info to them?
All good questions. Here are the answers:
How do you get hacked? Ninety percent of hacking is by obtaining email passwords. From there, there are three methods in which hackers catch you: Hacker impersonates email account pretending to be you in the attempt to gather funds and/or information. You click on a link from a seemingly credible email You open an email attachment
Once you're hacked, what's happens next? A script is executed or credentials are obtained. You should immediately shut down your computer and notify your IT service provider if ever you suspect such an email. Once opened, the virus begins encrypting data. Eventually, the virus can encrypt all files thus disallowing any user to open and access emails and files.
What does IT Provider do to fix the problem? That's where and when we come in and put all hands on deck immediately. First, we interview and investigate until we locate the origin of the virus spreading. Second, we quarantine and shutdown production in the tech environment, isolate encrypted data, and begin cleaning all computers using antivirus programs. Next, we reinstall all folder shares, restore the files into their original locations from a backup--either an online cloud system or separate data center. Our entire process, on average, takes approximately 48 hours with recovering over 90 percent of all data.
How do you prevent from being hacked?
User Awareness We understand most client users want everything to work and be fixed immediately. But, pertaining to security threats, the more aware and educated a user is, the better chance they act accordingly when a threat presents itself. For example, better aware users will more likely sniff out suspicious emails and links that can oftentimes we the origin of a virus spreading onto one's machine and network. 2. Proper Backups Having multiple backups eliminates single point protection and better ensures a full restore after a virus's encryption.
3. Spare Storage Space Retention helps save lost data that clients build unknowingly after a virus has begun spreading. Retention requires spare storage space.
4. Advanced Threat Protection Technology Using Microsoft 365 or Mimecast, email threat protection is a security technique that minimizes risk associated with a data breach by adding an additional layer to existing secure email gateways.
5. Behavioral Anti-Virus Software Vitaltech recommends Cylance for behavioral anti-virus software. Nearly all types of behavioral anti-virus software is preferred. Behavioral software lives on a work station for some time before going live. Once live, the artificial intelligence detects attacks based on memory and blocks and quarantine detected malicious files.
No one enjoys losing precious material. From our perspective as a IT provider, we feel equally as invested as our clients with their data. But, early after the virus is detected, our relationship with our client can be understandably tense. To best ease our clients, we try to help them focus on the present circumstance and what is able to be controlled and fixed moving forward.
Unfortunately, thousands of the most intelligent tech minds choose to dedicate their time, knowledge, and resources to stealing, fear mongering, and extorting instead of doing good. To combat their evil deeds, cyber security is a must for companies. Similar to securing your home or car, you want to ensure your precious digital belongings are not stolen or vandalized.
Hackers desire our information--finances, medical info, emails, files--in exchange for money. It's far more common than you suspect (see Hacking By The Numbers on page 2). Once they've obtained such information, the data is encrypted--essentially held hostage--until they get paid either by the victim or sell it on the dark web. The dark web is the digital, modern black market where one can purchase illegal goods via a plethora of dark websites. Personal information is flooded on these sites. We at vitaltech recommend to our clients to not resort to paying the hackers and instead waiting for us to fully recover and restore. It's why you pay and entrust us.
We take great pride in not having many such issues with our clients. But, we feel that is a cause of educating our clients on their software and consulting them to invest in the appropriate backups, storage space, antivirus software, and email threat protection technology.
We believe strongly that the growth of vitaltech is rooted in our trusted partnerships with our clients from meeting with them about their business strategies, implementing regular preventative maintenance on all their work stations, and continuing to strengthen the size and expertise of our proactive IT help desk.
We love helping companies perform at their best via technology. Please contact us to meet and see if vitaltech can enhance your company's business.