CRYPTOLOCKER: Flu Season for You and Your Network

CryptoLocker is a relatively new piece of “ransomware” that infects computers via fake e-mail notices. When it attacks a Windows-based PC, it encrypts/scrambles all of the files on that PC and demands money in order to recover the original contents of those files.

We don’t usually post much about viruses or spyware because there are just so many of them. But sometimes they are a serious threat. So please be wary of CryptoLocker; don’t click on suspicious e-mails (many are disguised as fake shipment notices) and make sure you have plenty of security systems in place as well as powerful backup systems that can recover your servers back to a “point-in-time” quickly.

At BDPNetworks, we use a multi-tiered approach to security – protecting our clients’ network perimeters (Internet connections, e-mail, web traffic) and all servers and PCs. We seek out high-quality systems from multiple vendors in order to ensure we have as much coverage as possible. We monitor and manage these security systems on an on-going basis to ensure our clients are safe from these types of threats.

But in this particular case, even the best security systems may not be enough. So we use industry-leading backup systems from our partner Datto at nearly all of our clients’ sites. These systems give us the unique ability to restore a compromised computer back to a specific point-in-time. This is extremely important in the case of CryptoLocker so a damaged system can be quickly “rolled back” to its pre-infection state.

While we are aware of several CryptoLocker infections in the area, we can fortunately claim (so far) that none of our fixed-fee managed services clients have sustained an attack. While we can’t guarantee our clients will never get hit with anything, we’ve raised the fence pretty high in comparison to small businesses who don’t employ strong central IT management services.

For a more in-depth overview of the severity & spread of this ransomware, check out this article from BusinessInsider.