RANSOMWARE ATTACKS UNIVERSITY

A Canadian University became victim to a cyber-attack last week when a form of Malware called ?Ransomware? encrypted all their data and asked for a Ransom of $20,000 to get their data back.

The Universities IT workers and students spent a week trying to crack the ransomware, until eventually giving in and deciding to take the risk. No one knows for sure whether paying the hackers will retrieve their data or not and experts advise everyone to never take the risk of paying the ransom.

This news comes just after days after Intel announced the increasing spread of ransomware and described the increase of the malicious malware as ?alarming?. The news of the University accepting to settle leaves experts worried that paying the ransom only encourages cyber criminals to continue with their blackmail attempts.

Schools and businesses need to be warned that these attacks are real and can happen to anyone. We urge everyone to use computers safely and ensure all security measures are in place to prevent these attacks from happening.

Hallidays will soon be releasing their new CyberWise website that informs users of the risks and dangers they can face when using a computer. CyberWise will be teaching business owners and users how to keep themselves and their businesses safe from these attacks.