Our Saskatoon IT Tips are from the Trusted professionals at Burnt Orange Solutions.  We promise to have a one-hour response time for all your Saskatoon IT support needs. Honesty and respect are important to us. In our latest  IT Expert tip Article, Gareth shares some information about a Saskatoon ransomware attack.

Saskatoon Ransomware Attack Story

You probably haven’t heard, but one of the ophthalmology clinics in Saskatoon is recently closed due to a Saskatoon ransomware attack, their whole network was down as they struggled to recover. (NB: not one of our clients).

Ransomware is very difficult to defend against as the ‘virus’ is often able to circumvent antivirus programs.

There is only 1 sure fire way to defend against ransomware and that is to have a solid and tested backup solution, which,  if you are a Burnt Orange Client, you will have.

There are a few things you and your staff can do to help reduce the possibility of infection at work and at home:

• Ensure all data is stored on the server/PC which is being backed up, don’t keep information on desktops throughout your network,
• Don’t open random emails or attachments which you are not expecting,
• Take a moment to look at a link in an email, is it going to where it says it is, below is an example.
  

  https://www.burntorangessolutions.com

  Those with keen eyes will notice the extra ‘s’ in the text, but if you hover your mouse over the link. Fake banking emails often use this technique and I have noticed recently a few from Apple.

• Do not use Dropbox and the like as a backup. If your local files get encrypted, so will the files in Dropbox and the files on your other devices which point to that Dropbox account,
• Do not have your backup on an attached USB or Network hard drive, these often get encrypted also. If you must back up like this, do so to the external hard drive then disconnect it,
• Avoid using remote desktop to gain access to your work network, if you have to do this, ensure you use a VPN and not a direct remote desktop connection.
• USB memory sticks can often be used to spread viruses. Have a work USB and a home USB, don’t mix them,
  In addition to this, don’t pick up random USB sticks in bars/hotels and put them into your computer.
• Mobile devices are also at risk, you should have antivirus on your smartphones and tablets, they are computers after all.

  We can help with this if you need.

The big takeaways:

1. Ensure all staff are trained on what to look for.
2. Ensure you have a backup which is tested. If you use our backup system you can rest knowing we manually test your backup each month.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch. If you wish to forward this to your staff, or anyone for that matter, please feel free to do so.

And, in case it wasn’t obvious, it is ransomware which keeps Kay and I awake at night.

We hope this article gave you some insight. If you want to ensure your business’s IT security, contact the Trusted Saskatoon IT professionals at Burnt Orange Solutions and we can take IT worries off your plate.

Burnt Orange IT Solutions Products & Services:

• Managed Networks
• Backup and Recovery
• Data and Network Security
• Hosted Services
• Telephone Systems
• Secure WiFi Networks

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Burnt Orange Solutions are Trusted Saskatoon IT Experts