Data back up on optical discs is the best way to overcome the effects of ransomware

WIESBADEN, GERMANY March 15, 2016 – Gone are the days when viruses and trojans only ragged. Meanwhile, there is much criminal energy behind malware, especially behind blackmail trojans, which are also called ransomware or crypto trojans. Whether the trojans with the name Locky, KeRanger or Tesla Crypt encrypt the files on the home PC or the corporate network or steal personal information and threaten their publication - criminals always wanted to see money before they allegedly return files or data.

The content is not deleted by the trojan, but simply blocked from anyone being able to access them due to very complex and sophisticated encrypted computer programs. Only after payment of a ransom the person concerned receives a virtual access code to regain access to its data. The blackmail trojan encrypts not only files on the infected computer, but also everything it reaches via network. Even before cloud storage blackmail trojans do not stop: When the folders of an infected computer will be synced to the cloud, the online stored originals of the files will automatically be replaced by the encrypted versions.

Within the past few weeks and months there have been a number of reports of attacks on public and private institutions and companies such as municipalities, hospitals and research institutes.

According to information from the German Press Agency (dpa), among the victims in Germany is e.g. the Fraunhofer Institute in Bayreuth. There Locky encrypted the files on a central server and rendered them completely useless. The employees of the Interior Ministry of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) were temporarily only reachable by phone, because the computer had to be shut down.

It also turns out, that the companies concerned dealt differently with the problem. The Lukas Hospital in Neuss (Germany) was affected by this resistant malware and was limited in its operation. However, the damage was manageable, as the hospital had a timely backup and therefore was able to restore their computer with the backed up files.

In contrast the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles and the municipality of Dellbach, a town in Lower Franconia (Germany), which were both affected by the ransomware, bought off their IT systems by a ransom payment.

The best way to back up all your files, especially for SMB’s and individuals, is to back up your files onto optical discs. Optical discs not only allow you to recall and restore your archived content quickly, but they are impervious to viruses and outside attacks. Whether it is ransomware, spyware, virus, etc., making copies of your important and critical files onto discs just makes sense and keeps everyone protected.

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