{"id":53747,"date":"2016-07-11T15:14:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-11T15:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?p=53747"},"modified":"2016-09-16T18:18:16","modified_gmt":"2016-09-16T18:18:16","slug":"north-carolina-pastor-targeted-ransomware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/north-carolina-pastor-targeted-ransomware\/","title":{"rendered":"North Carolina Pastor Targeted With Ransomware"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the\u00a0ransomware struck, the North Carolina pastor was forced to scramble for help to recover his lost data…<\/p>\n

On July 5, 2016, Andy Wood, pastor from Potters Hill Missionary Baptist Church\u00a0in Pink Hill, North Carolina, stated he lost over 30 years worth of data to a vicious ransomware attack.\u00a0 This included his sermons, personal credit card information, and potentially information regarding his work with the congregation.\u00a0 Pastor Wood reported his primary concern was keeping the privacy of his congregation.<\/p>\n

The ransom demand was $700 USD.\u00a0 The pastor took his computer to the local police, as well as two repair shops and they were unable to help recover the data.\u00a0 However, according to WCTI News 12<\/a>, Sherrie Howard of CDS Networks & Services was able to run programs that got rid of the virus and recovered the data on July 7th.<\/p>\n

If you ever find yourself the victim of a ransomware attack, we recommend taking the following steps:<\/p>\n

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  1. Do not pay the ransom<\/b> \u2013 If you do, you\u2019re just giving the hackers a reason to keep hacking.\u00a0 Use your back up files to restore your systems.\u00a0 Again, don\u2019t pay!!<\/li>\n
  2. Inform the FBI<\/strong> \u2013 By informing the FBI they can investigate to potentially bring legal action against the hacker.\u00a0 All cyber criminal activity should be reported to the federal IC3 agency.\u00a0 You can file a complaint with them here<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  3. Notify your current security software company<\/strong> \u2013 You also MUST inform your security software company.\u00a0 If they didn\u2019t know they missed a malicious attack, they cannot stop it in the future.\u00a0 Also, many anti-virus software companies share their blacklist, or the list of known bad files.\u00a0 So by sharing it with your software company, they then share it with others; saving thousands of people from falling victim to the same attack that just got you.<\/li>\n
  4. Educate yourselves and your employees <\/strong>\u2013 Many times we attend one training, or listen to one webinar and consider ourselves educated on the matter.\u00a0 This cannot be further from the truth.\u00a0 Continued education on current cyber security threats is imperative.\u00a0 We recommend our friends at KnowBe4 <\/a>for both personal and enterprise training on cyber security.\u00a0 As always, all PC Matic home\u00a0security subscribers are offered a free cyber security training<\/a> through KnowBe4 as well.<\/li>\n
  5. Reevaluate your security software protection<\/strong> \u2013 If your security software failed you, perhaps you should look for an alternative security option.\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0United States\u00a0Computer Emergency Readiness Team\u00a0(US-CERT)<\/a> strongly advises using a whitelist security technology.\u00a0 For personal uses, PC Matic<\/a> home protection offers superior protection with advanced whitelisting technology.\u00a0 For enterprise use, there is Tech Sentry<\/a>, which offers advanced security protection with proprietary whitelisting technology.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    You can find a full list of the public 2016 ransomware attacks here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    We have also generated an interactive map that includes all of the ransomware attacks within the United States that have occurred this year. <\/p>\n