As the new year rolls on, prepare yourself to see the headline Ransomware hits small business throughout the year. This is because cybercriminals do not consider a small business to be too small to attack. According to /\normal (Abnormal), 57% of ransomware victims are small businesses. Abnormal continues and states, “Nearly a third of all victims had an annual revenue of less than $10 million.

What is ransomware

We have written about ransomware many times at Security Bytes and that is because it is still one of the most used malwares cybercriminals use. It is also one of the most successful tools they use. Ransomware has changed from just locking and encrypting your files to now threatening to release all of your files. This new threat makes it all the more important to take ransomware seriously! Fortunately, combating ransomware starts with raising awareness and educating on it!

What you can do

One of the best ways to stop ransomware is to talk about and often! This means mentioning it in staff meetings and talking about how their devices might become infected. Most ransomware is installed via phishing emails. So training your staff on phishing emails and steps to identify them is key. You can provide examples of phishing emails you have received and show them the red flags that help identify them.

Ransomware resources available

We wrote previously on a new website from CISA, StopRansomware, and still highly recommend checking it out. We also have some of our own resources available here as well. We have our Ransomware: What you really really need to know guide and Ransomware: What you really, really need to know Dos and Donts.

For more information on ransomware and other cyber threats to your small business, check out Small Business, Big Threat! Also check out our other cybersecurity resources here!

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