Welcome to DR's note, your weekly dose of knowledge from Circuit Stitch Blog.

 This week we talk about Ransomware

Let us first understand what ransomware is, then we can discuss how to avoid it.  So what is ransomware, the FBI defines it like this, malicious software, or malware, that prevents you from accessing your computer files, systems, or networks and demands you to pay a ransom for their return.  Basically your computer gets infected and locks you out of your stuff, you have to pay the person that did this, and they then unlock your files, hopefully.  This could be devastating if this happens to you, but remember, NEVER PAY THE RANSOM.  Even if you pay them the money, you do not have any guarantee that you will get your content unlocked or back at all.  Also, you are essentially funding them to keep doing this to you and other people. 

So what are you to do when it comes to ransomware, how can you avoid it.  The absolute best thing you can do to protect yourself is to BACK UP YOUR DATA.  If you get hit with ransomware, you can use that back up to restore your computer to a time without that virus on it.  You also want to keep up to  date on current scams going around, and educate loved ones that are not that tech-savvy to help them from falling into these traps.  The best way to keep up to date on the newest scams is to search it online,  I will provide a couple of places you can check out at the bottom of this email.  Remember, you do not know who is on the other line of that phone call you are talking to, or even on the other side of the screen if you are talking to someone online.  In upcoming DR's notes, I will be discussing different scams and how they work to help keep you educated on what's going on in this increasingly online world.

Ok now that we know how to avoid these scams, what can we do to report them when we see them or if someone we know has fallen victim to ransomware.  The FBI has submit a tip online, or you could file a report.  Here is the link https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/ransomware .  It is best to get the authorities involved in these matters, at least with the FBI they have cyber crimes teams that are able to help you. 

So I hope this has been helpful.  Thank you and have a great week.

https://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/current_top_10_scam_list.php

https://scambusters.org/scamlines.html