If you want to scare someone who works in IT, start talking to them about ransomware.
There are few things as scary for IT professionals as the prospect of their systems locking up with hackers demanding money to return things back to normal.
When discussing it, you may notice them breaking into a sweat and starting fidgeting as they contemplate one of the most terrifying cybersecurity threats computers face.
There are several ways that ransomware can get into computers.
Email is one of the most common ways in. Hackers will send bad files that can trigger a ransomware infection when opened and quickly spread across your network.
Another favorite way to spread ransomware is to send bad URL links that download ransomware when they’re clicked. This ‘drive-by downloading’ can happen without anybody noticing that anything has happened until it’s too late.
These bad files and links are not always easy to spot. Cybercriminals are getting increasingly sophisticated in the ways they try to persuade people to do what they want them to do.
A growing trend is for cybercriminals to pose as trusted people, like a client, a colleague, or a friend. And ask you to do something urgently before you have the time to think things through.
