GUIDING YOUR ASSET WITH DILIGENCE: Ransomware, What is it?

The rise of technology has birthed waves of attacks on our digital real estate. These days anyone who is accessing the internet or using technological gadgets have to think about the safety of their data. You own a phone? How protected are your apps from malicious attacks? Do you have a social media account? How protected are your messages and personal data? You own a crypto asset? How protected are your assets from theft?

Ransomware is a kind of malware that presents itself in various ways. Ransomware can affect individual and organizational systems alike.

Ransomware has been studied thoroughly by cryptovirologists. Cryptovirology is a field that studies malicious software. Over the years, ransomware has gotten increasingly sophisticated. The first use of Ransomware was documented in 1989. Most ransomware make use of cryptic methods to encrypt files, making them inaccessible. For example, an encrypted ransomware can be used on a hard drive to completely lock a computer operating system, preventing the victim from accessing it.

For anyone who owns a crypto asset and uses their computer to access it, the worst nightmare is if their computer or device gets hacked through ransomware and their crypto assets are exposed to the hacker. The hacker could easily transfer the asset to a private wallet that is not traceable.

To avoid and shield yourself from ransomware, there are a couple of steps you can take and these include:

1. Be careful of emails that come from unknown sources: An email from an unknown sender could be a phishing email with attachments or links that are disguised as legitimate.

2. Don’t visit suspicious websites: Ransomware authors are very crafty and are known to create websites that, if visited, can be used to get access to the host’s computer or device. Be careful of the websites you visit, if it does not look legitimate leave the website as soon as you can.

3. Back up frequently: A frequent file backup routine is advised. This is to make sure you always have a backup copy of your most important files, even if you fall victim to ransomware

As the tactics of ransomware gangs improve, it is beneficial for you as an investor to take all measures to defend your devices from attacks that can cause you to be a victim of ransomware. We hope that this article has given you some ideas of what to look out for and how to best protect your devices and most importantly your cryptocurrency assets.