It’s that back to school time of year again where everyone experiences rejuvenation and feeling of starting fresh in the air. With a renewed mindset of starting over, it is time to look at the security of your computer and systems. There are quite a few virus threats going around and your computer could be the next target. Learn what they are and how you can prevent risk to practice back to school safety.
Image Credit: Yuri Yu. Samoilov / Foter / CC BY
Ransomware
At the beginning of the year, we talked about Cryptowall Ransomware that was targeting law firms in the US. Now ransomware has spread across the world, targeting everyone from businesses to students. A recent report from South Australia profiled a case where a student lost six months of work due to ransomware. But for a business, ransomware means more than just losing work. The ransomware virus uses phishing techniques to encrypt your data so you no longer have access to it. They hold your data for ransom, asking a nominal fee ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. This can be detrimental to your business as many businesses cannot afford the fee and lose the data. Even if you pay the fee and get your data back, you lose that income and waste valuable time where you cannot operate your business.
There are two solutions. The first is not full-proof where you are simply hyper aware of phishing scams. The people behind ransomware are clever, however, and can make their phishing look incredibly realistic. The second solution is the best option to avoid paying a fee or losing your data in case you are targeted. Backup your data to multiple sources, including the cloud that automatically backs up. That way if you are a target, you can simple ignore the ransom and grab your data from another source. Ransomware does not do anything with your data to violate security – they simply hold it hostage hoping you pay a fee.
Mac Security Access
It is always said that Mac computers do not get viruses like Windows. This is not the case. According to Kim Komando, hackers have discovered a command that will give them access to everything on your Mac. If someone gets ahold of your computer and enters this command, it convinces your Mac that the user does not need passwords to make changes to the computer.
The solution is to update your Mac to the latest version. This is a security flaw on old OS versions. Keeping your computer up to date is important to your data security.
Golroted
Golroted is the latest Trojan virus that has originated in India. This virus makes its way through computers using phishing emails that have Golroted hidden in zipped files or a Microsoft Office file attachment. Once it is on your computer, it looks for banking sites, emails, social media and online payment sites. Golroted logs keystrokes and takes screenshots when you are on sites with personal information to steal your identity and drain accounts.
The solution is to be wary of emails and their attachments. Always ask people to deliver files to you in person or through file sharing sites that scan for viruses, such as Google Drive or Dropbox.
