If you don't know that cyber-hacking is running rampant in this country, you must live under a rock. We hear every day about some virus, some malware, some ransomware or some theft of confidential data somewhere in this country. Anybody who knows the slightest thing about computers knows that they are at risk if they do not install and maintain cyber-security software. More than that, if we are storing valuable information on your computers... information that we depend on for daily operations in our businesses or personal lives, we need to have a routine plan for backing our files up to another computer, on the Cloud, or to an external hard drive... and those backup storage places need to be physically located away from where our computers are being used.
I know of one major company in Washington State that has suffered major monetary damages... twice... because they did not follow the advice above stated. Yet, our own federal government has been hacked in virtually every agency from the IRS to the Federal Personnel Records Center to the V.A.... on and on it goes.
Just the other day in Arkansas, Carroll County Sheriff's Office Lt. Daniel Klatt said the department's
system was infected Dec. 5 with ransomware, which typically works by
encrypting computer files to deny its owner access unless they pay a
ransom, which they did in order to get their data back. Why didn't they have appropriate security software and why weren't their files backed up? They are a law enforcement agency, for crying out loud!
Just like you can't leave your new car in your driveway with the doors unlocked and the key in the ignition, you can't leave your computer without a condom of protection on it. Otherwise, you have no business crying rape when you get hacked.
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