Operating systems should be updated regularly as well as online add-ons like Flash and Java. Also, all employees should be reminded not to open any file that they are not expecting or do not recognize. So how can a business defend against such attacks? Of course, all businesses should back up their files frequently. In the case of the Charlotte law firm, the virus was contained in an email “from AT&T” and the malicious attachment was mistaken for a voicemail message from their phone answering service. Virus developers are becoming increasingly sophisticated and can target users quite specifically. Most commonly, it is disguised as PDF or Word files, contained in official-looking emails that appear to be from familiar companies like UPS or the user’s bank. Like many computer viruses, Cryptolocker spreads through email attachments that can come in a variety of forms. Cryptolocker uses a higher, commercial-grade form of encryption and demands higher ransoms than other ransomware. It has already spread across thousands of computers worldwide. The most recent culprit goes by the name Cryptolocker and is a type of ransomware that has become increasingly prevalent in the U.S. Ransomware is a malicious computer program that locks or encrypts user data, with the threat of destroying it, unless a ransom is paid. Do you pay the ransom? This was the scenario that confronted a police department in Swansea, Massachusetts, which paid over $750 to avoid losing thousands of its official records, and a law firm in Charlotte, North Carolina that was unable to outsmart the virus and lost countless critical legal documents. The virus developer is demanding that you pay several hundred dollars in exchange for retrieving your data. Now imagine that the same virus has spread to every computer in your office. Imagine walking into your office and switching on your computer, only to find a large “X” on the screen with a timer counting down the hours until all of your data is destroyed.

Submitted by: Jessica Mazzeo, Director of Administration, Griesing Law, LLC

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