Home computer: “How my mom got hacked” (New York Times)
Small Business Executive: “How a small Canadian company fell victim to ransomware” (IT World Canada)
Enterprise: Attackers collect ransom from Kansas hospital
Filtered Internet
Devices which have unfiltered Internet connections are the most vulnerable. Infections come through ad networks, phishing sites (in fact, 93% of phishing emails are now ransomware attempts), so implementing a filter that blocks out these threats at your router level is a natural first safety net. Nerds On Site achieves this via DNSthingy.com blacklisting or whitelisting solutions for homes and businesses.
End-point protection that can rollback ransomware infections
Realizing that no system is 100% immune, end-point protection that is ransomware-aware is another critical safety net. Our partnership with Webroot provides this piece of mind, should an infection occur. Currently-known ransomware infections are all able to be rolled back, completely undoing the damage without resorting to the next safety net:
Online Backup that is managed and verified
Having signed up for some kind of file synchronization such as Dropbox is not a backup. Online, cold backup which has versioning enabled and is fully managed and validated on a regular basis is a minimum. This service is offered through Nerds On Site via third parties. See more at nerdsbackup.com.
Simply dial 1-877-696-3737 and ask for a nerd near you, or make your request online.