<<First Name>>, Never Pay the Ransom!

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina has refused to give into hackers after falling victim to a ransomware attack. Ransomware locked their files and demanded a payment of two bitcoins (about $24,000) after an employee opened a phishing email attachment. Unfortunately, email phishing scams and a lack of cybersecurity training are some of the most common tactics used by hackers to gain access to your files and information.



The deadline to pay was 1 PM ET on Wednesday, but the county was aware of the risks of paying the ransom and decided they wouldn’t give in. According to the county, it would have taken days to restore their system even if they paid off the hackers, so the decision not to pay won't lengthen the restore time. This has slowed the county to a crawl and forced them to manually process arrests, but they are still able to handle emergency calls as normal. However, the county has recommended residents contact the offices before visiting to ensure they are currently offering the desired service.

This was a good decision for 2 other reasons as well.   Paying the ransom does not guarantee you will get the files back, and in many cases you are left vulnerable for future attacks.

Training is the number one way to keep attacks from being successful.  Contact me to set up a training plan for yourself and your staff.

cheers
   Pete Salerno

312-874-7355
pete@stratusconcept.com