As you may already know, the cyberspace is a world of its own and you have basically two kinds of people living side by side. There are those using it for good purposes while some others are using it for various criminal activities.
This is why I have always advocated that from the moment you make your presence known online; you need to start taking security measures to help you to stay safe. This is nearly impossible but achievable.
Just as I was concluding this piece, I received a newsletter from the Nigeria Communications Week, which quoted the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, as revealing that Nigeria loses N127bn annually to cybercrime. This underscores the need for you to take precautions against becoming a victim of one form of cybercrime or the other.
A rapidly growing form of cyber criminality is called ransomware. Today, I will suggest some measures that you need to take to avoid being a victim of Ransomware but first, you need to understand how it occurs.
Ransomware is a type of malware that has the ability to encrypt the files on any type of device so that you no longer have access to them. What usually follows is a demand coming from the hacker that encrypted the files asking for payment before the encryption is removed.
Often, a ransomware will not set a time limit for you to pay. When you, however, make payment, there is no guarantee that you will be getting access back.
The once-upon-a-time popular CryptoLocker infection only targeted devices running on windows. Modern Ransomware are, however, able to attack other operating systems such as Mac, Android and Linux.
This poses a very great threat to billions of users’ devices and their precious data. The most common method of spreading Ransomware is through emails and links contained in those mails. Sometimes, they may ask you to download a strange file or to click on a link to open a file or document provided in the email sent.
You may also get ransomware through the installation of programmes that are not trusted by your device. Once infected, a Ransomware will work in the background to encrypt your files without your knowing it.
Even though it is possible for you to back up your data to avoid data loss, a ransomware attack will see you facing a serious data breach that will obtain sensitive data from your devices and place these in the wrong hands. — Finish Reading on the Punch Website
