Cryptolocker and Ransomware – Best Defenses

1. Don’t store important data only on your PC.  Keep it in multiple lcoations.

2. Make sure you have 2 backups of your data. On an external hard drive and in the cloud.

3. Keep your cloud storage applications turned off. Only open them once a day, to sync data, and close them once this is done.

4. Keep your operating system and the software you use is up to date, including the latest security updates.

5. For daily use, don’t use an administrator account on your computer. Use a guest account with limited privileges.

6. Turn off macros in the Microsoft Office suite.

7. Removed plugins from your browsers: Adobe Flash, Adobe Reader, Java and Silverlight. If you have to use them, configure the browser to ask if you want to activate these plugins when needed.

8. Adjusted your browser for increased protection.

9. Remove outdated plugins and addons from your browsers. Keep the ones you user on a daily basis and keep them updated to the latest version.

10. Use an ad blocker to avoid the threat of potentially malicious ads.

11. Never open spam emails or emails from unknown senders.  Look at the sender address carefully.

12. Never download attachments from spam emails or suspicious emails or from unknown senders.

13. Never click links in spam emails or suspicious emails or from unknown senders

14. Use a reliable, paid antivirus product, preferable with anti ransomware and anti exploit tools such as Malware Bytes Endpoint Protection or Sophos Intercept-x