Here's another virus terrorising businesses and causing havoc: ransomware | Gene Marks

With so many companies sending their employees home to work amid the pandemic, the problem has been escalatingWhile the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc on small businesses across the US, another virus is quietly creating its own form of disruption – with similar financial effects. This virus has been around for years, but in just the past few months its cases have been rising at a rate almost as alarming as its biological counterpart.The virus, or malware, is called ransomware and by now most business owners are familiar with the name. But do we really appreciate the havoc it can cause? When just one employee’s device at a company gets infected, the virus can spread fast through the entire network where it can encrypt – or lock up – files and databases. The only way to unlock those files is to then pay the maker a “ransom”, usually in the form of digital currency, and then hope that the maker lives up to his promises to deliver a key to unlock the infected files. Ransomware is a billion-dollar industry and some of the people behind the malware provide toll-free phone numbers to assist their victims in paying. Continue reading... https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jul/16/small-business-malware-ransomware-working-from-home #us_small_business #malware #technology #business #us_news