\u201cThe virus hits close to home and has infected two GreatFlorida Insurance<\/a> agents, reports Dustyn Shroff<\/a>, Vice President of GreatFlorida Insurance<\/a>. \u201cIt is a serious concern, because it permanently locks people out of their files and once locked, it cannot be undone.\u201d<\/p>\n CryptoWall 3.0 is distributed in a few different ways. It can be accessed through malicious websites or legitimate websites that have been hacked and spam email. Hackers are even using forged headers from shipping companies such as FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service to infect PC\u2019s.<\/p>\n USA Today<\/a> reported various outcomes for infected victims. Some have run out of time to pay the ransom and lost everything. Some luckier victims have paid the demanded amount and received a decryption key, getting their information back, while some pay and never receive a decryption key loosing access to their data permanently. These hackers are criminals so it is difficult to know if they can be trusted.<\/p>\n While law enforcement and cyber security experts are aware of the growing problem, there is little they have been able to do because of the lengths the hackers go through to preserve their anonymity. It is believed most of the hackers are located in Eastern Europe and Russia.<\/p>\n Being proactive is your only defense. Once a computer has been infected, there is little\u00a0you can do.<\/p>\n External drives are good if your drive crashes or if you lose your laptop, but this virus can attack connected drives as well. So they won’t save you.<\/p>\n If you work on a Apple computer, you are less likely to be hit, and you also have the advantage of using Apple’s TimeMachine to keep daily backups of everything.<\/p>\n The only way to be 100% sure is to keep a safe copy of your mission-critical files or backups, in a secure, preferably encrypted, cloud storage location. Ideally you should\u00a0have your local backups synced to a secure cloud such as\u00a0SpiderOak<\/strong> :\u00a0https:\/\/spideroak.com\/features\/private-by-design<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0SOS Online Backup<\/strong> :\u00a0http:\/\/www.sosonlinebackup.com\/<\/p>\n The most current security software can block suspicious emails, but regular updates are crucial. Make sure all desktops have the latest updated version of a\u00a0security software. While the Free versions are better than nothing, paying for a license will help you stay ahead of the game with the latest protections and updates.<\/p>\n Bitdefender<\/strong> is a popular choice.\u00a0http:\/\/www.bitdefender.com\/business\/advanced-security.html<\/a><\/p>\n Client-side email programs like Outlook and MacMail old-school and are susceptible to these attacks because they download email attachments\u00a0to your PC\u00a0before you open them. By then its too late. It is safer to use a web based\u00a0email client like GMail<\/strong> or Yahoo<\/strong>. These online email clients have strong and current\u00a0SPAM lists and anti-virus monitoring. \u00a0They also have built-in viewers for certain documents, PDFs, Images, and MS Office files,\u00a0so you dont have to download them to see them. Its an extra level of protection.<\/p>\n Use the most modern browsers available such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge. Make sure these are running the latest versions with well known vulnerabilities already fixed.<\/p>\n GreatFlorida Insurance<\/a> takes an interest in our customers and wants to see the best possible outcome in their lives. If you are looking for auto insurance<\/a>, homeowner\u2019s insurance<\/a>, health insurance<\/a> or additional insurance, contact us today.<\/p>\n Never open attachments from an unknown or unverified sender. Watch for executable files, those\u00a0you double click to open. For example: .zip, .exe, .doc, .pdf, etc. NEVER open executable files sent via email from people\u00a0you don\u2019t know, and even this is not 100 percent.<\/p>\nWhat Do You Do?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Backup, backup,\u00a0backup!<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Anti-Virus \/ Anti-Spam \/ Anti-Spyware<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Email Safety<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Modern Web Browsers<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Common Sense<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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