If you haven’t seen ransomware in the news over the last few years, you must not watch the news, as the cybercrime has become quite prevalent for hackers around the world. From hospitals to small businesses, these attacks steal and encrypt important data until you can pay a hefty ransom to get it back. To make matters worse, these attacks have clearly been ramping up, with new attacks hitting the government of Costa Rica and an Illinois college so hard that they’ve both had to take drastic measures to keep their students and citizens safe. In response, Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves has declared a state of emergency in the Central American country, further demonstrating how serious cyber-attacks like this can be. In fact, the threat is so serious that the US government is also getting involved. Earlier this week, the State Department announced a total of $15 million in reward money for anyone with information about the identity of the gang responsible for these attacks. That’s right, after a ransomware attack in December 2021 halted recruitment, retention, and fundraising, rendering them “inoperable” for a significant period of time. A statement from the predominantly Black college noted that things only got worse from there. Lincoln College will close its doors after 157 years on May 13th, 2022. For one, you need to back up your data thoughtfully and maintain those backups effectively. Secondly, training your team on how to follow security best practices is essential for any business. Finally, keeping your systems up to date by updating them consistently will close any security loop holes on services you use for your business every day.
