October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM) [2]. To help raise awareness and educate members of the college community on the importance of cybersecurity, IT will be offering tips and information. This week’s topic is ransomware.

Q: What is ransomware? 

A: It’s easy to forget sometimes how valuable the information we store on our computers and devices really is to us. Family photos, financial information, address books, homework assignments – so much of our lives is stored digitally! Ransomware is a type of malware in which the attacker encrypts the victim’s data to make it as inaccessible as possible. Then, the hacker demands a ransom to release or unencrypt that information.

Q: Why should you care?

A: The fees extorted by cybercriminals through ransomware can be extreme or prohibitive – not to mention there’s no guarantee that your data will actually be returned to you after you pay! Luckily, there’s a simple way to make yourself and your data resistant to ransomware attacks. In addition to keeping your software and antivirus programs up-to-date, regularly back up your system on the cloud or on an external hard drive. That way, you always have a spare copy of the information most important to you. 

National Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2018 Toolkit [3]

Contact Mike Wilson at mikewilson@cwi.edu [4] or 208.562.3193 with questions or for more information, and stay tuned for more tips in future issues of Bert’s Alerts.