{"id":56087,"date":"2017-01-13T14:52:14","date_gmt":"2017-01-13T14:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?p=56087"},"modified":"2017-01-13T14:52:14","modified_gmt":"2017-01-13T14:52:14","slug":"ransomware-kanawha-county-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/ransomware-kanawha-county-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"Ransomware Victimizes Kanawha County Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kanawha County Schools Struggles To Regain Access<\/h4>\n

Another county school was victimized by ransomware this week.\u00a0 Kanawha County Schools, located in Charleston, West Virginia was hit with ransomware on January 11, 2017.\u00a0 As of today, January 13, 2017, the school continues to work on regaining access to their encrypted files.<\/p>\n

Officials are not reporting the ransomware variant that infected the school’s systems.\u00a0 They are also not sharing the ransom demands.\u00a0 According to WSAZ News<\/a>, the FBI has encouraged the school not <\/em>to pay the cyber criminals.<\/p>\n

Malware Prevention –\u00a0Best Practices<\/h4>\n

Unfortunately, these attacks are becoming more and more common.\u00a0 To avoid falling victim to these cyber crimes you should implement the following best practices:<\/p>\n

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  1. Use a security solution that implements application whitelisting.\u00a0 Application whitelisting technology is designed to only allow known trusted applications to run.\u00a0 These trusted applications have been tested by malware researchers, and are known to be malware free.\u00a0 Anything that has not been tested and deemed safe, cannot run.<\/li>\n
  2. Understand, back ups are not enough.\u00a0 Just because you back up your data, does not mean that is enough.\u00a0 You need to back up on an external drive or use\u00a0cloud-based storage.\u00a0 You also need to test your back-ups, ensuring everything was backed-up and they are not corrupt.<\/li>\n
  3. Ensure your PC system and programs are updated.\u00a0 Many malware attacks are able to execute because the PC has not been updated, leaving vulnerabilities exposed.\u00a0 By ensuring your\u00a0operating system and programs are\u00a0up to date, you’ll be able to mitigate your malware risk exposure.<\/li>\n
  4. Educate yourself.\u00a0 In order to know what red flags to look for, you need to be aware of what the current cyber security threats are.\u00a0 Cyber security training is encouraged.\u00a0 You can also sign up <\/a>for our weekly newsletter to stay updated on the current cyber threats.<\/li>\n
  5. Click wisely.\u00a0 Often times, ransomware attacks are executed through phishing scams.\u00a0 Meaning malicious files are sent to you via email.\u00a0 Before you open emails and attachments, it is strongly advised that you review the email.\u00a0 Make sure you know the sender, are expecting the email, the hyperlinks within the email are secure, look for typos, etc.\u00a0 Simply double checking and validating the email, can save you a world of trouble!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Other Attacks<\/h4>\n

    As 2017 progresses, we will continue to accumulate a list of the publicized ransomware attacks. You access this list at anytime, you can click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    We have also created a ransomware map, see below, of the ransomware attacks that have taken place in the U.S. this year.
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