Trending This Week: San Diego Companies Losing All Data Due to Hacker

We have received 3 calls from San Diego business owners just this week who have lost ALL of their company data! Server, desktop, and backups - all data everywhere due to this infection. These companies where a biotech, insurance company, and retail store. The attack is called "CTB-Locker" and is similar to Cryptolocker which was made mainstream by many news stories in early 2014. We refer to it as Ransomware. What is Ransomware? It is when hacker groups take control of your computer data and hold it for ransom until you pay them. How much is ransomware? Typically it is about $500 - $2000 ransom they are asking for. The hacker group claims if you pay them they will give you data back to you.

How does the "CTB-Locker" ransomware work?

If you follow our blog regularly you will see we had a post recently about a fake  fax email. Also popular is a fake email claiming to be from Google letting you know that your Google Chrome web browser is out  of date. These emails either have an attachment or a link to click. Once you click that attachment it infects your computer  silently in the background, scans your hard drive, and encrypts all of your files with military grade encryption. Google Fake Email CTB-Locker Sign up for our monthly Security Tips Once the files are encrypted there is no way to fix them! They are essentially gone for ever...everything. Even the data backups of the couple companies we had calling our office for help were encrypted. Since they are encrypted the only way possible to fix them would be to pay the thousands of $$$ to the hackers and hope they come through with a valid decryption code and software for you. Sounds a bit sketchy huh!

How can you recover and prevent this from happening?

1. Apply all the valid (not fake) Microsoft, Google, Adobe, Flash each day/week as they are released
2. Have both onsite and offsite Data Backups in place. The CTB-Locker can NOT encrypt the offsite files
3. User training - be sure to have regular employee staff meetings where your IT Support team keeps everyone updated on what not to click on and the latest threats
4. Have a business class firewall solution in place. A DLINK, Linksys, or anything you bought at Fryys, Staples, Best Buy will not cut it. Talk to your system administrator or IT Consultant about a SonicWall or similar solution

Hackers, infections, and computers can all be a bit scary and frustrating at times. But they do not have to be! If you have concerns or questions be sure to have regular meetings with your Tech team to make sure you are covered and your business is not risking more than it should. See Also - Tips Why Data Backup and Disaster Recovery are Critical to Your Business

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