The internet continues to be an essential part of our everyday lives, and this includes our business lives and our personal lives. The internet's global use and its recognizability have, unfortunately, paved the way for the cyber-criminals to take every chance to exploit those who are the most vulnerable and attack them online. Malware is one of the many ways to exploit the individuals and the businesses that are vulnerable. Although the IT experts have an understanding of what they should look for and how they can protect their devices when it comes to malware, there are others in the office who are perplexed by all the malware and online scams.

What is Malware?

Malware is a very common malicious software that no one wants to have on a computer or other device. Malware can include a variety of things, including ransomware, viruses, and phishing. Malware is designed to cause disruption or complete damage to a device or data, and every form of malware will have its own intention. Malware can do a variety of things, including leading you to believe that there is a security problem on your computer, completely reformatting your hard drive, stealing customer information, and taking full control of your device.

What Are The Types of Malware?

Ransomware

Ransomware is one of the newest forms of malware. Ransomware can be compared to extortion but in a digital form. When someone opens an email attachment that has any type of malicious content, ransomware can quickly be downloaded onto your device and block you from accessing any of your content until you pay the amount of money that has been requested. You will not be able to use your computer because you will not have any access to your documents or your files. We do not advise to pay any money to the cybercriminal because there will be no guarantee that you will receive the information you need to unlock your computer.

Viruses

When a computer virus is executed on your computer, it can recreate itself into all the programs on your computer, your sensitive files, and on your hard drive. As a result of this, the computer virus will damage your system and can cause an obstruction in the way your computer generally operates. Viruses can easily be spread through links and attachments that do not look suspicious, especially when they are received in the form of an email message, a social media instant message, or through a download.

Phishing

If you asked a cybercriminal what his or her favourite type of malware is, he or she might say phishing. Cybercriminals are using multiple deceptive strategies and techniques to delude users. Users can be deceived by an email message, links on websites, and even text messages that are created to look authentic. The links and messages that are not authentic will coax the receiver to share their sensitive information including their passwords and payment information. A phishing scam is not difficult to execute, which makes it a widespread attack.

Protecting Ourselves From Malware

It is essential that anyone who needs to send emails and receive emails on a daily basis is knowledgeable and aware of the common types of malware and other threats. There are different things you can do to ensure your computers and other devices will be protected at all times, including the following:

• Avoid giving someone your email address online, unless you have made it unscannable
• Do not open any attachment that you did not expect to receive
• Pay close attention to the sender any email
• If you think you have received a spam email, you should not respond to it
• If you think your computer may have a problem, do not hesitate to have it inspected by someone in the IT department
• Use anti-malware, anti-virus, etc. services
• Use complex passwords
• Make sure you are using the right security settings on your computer

If you want to know how folio1 can help you protect your business and your sensitive data, contact us today.