Don’t Open That Email! Ransomware Attacks Are Making Rounds Through West Michigan
This is a warning our IT department sent out and well, it’s good for everyone to know!
According to the email, we received from Townsquare IT (that’s our parent company), there is a surge of WANNACRY ransomware attacks happening right now.
Wannacry, when opened/downloaded, encrypts all the files on your computer and then demands you pay $300 to the scammers for them to unlock your files again.
One of the more common ways this has been known to transfer is through emails that look like they’re coming from your bank asking you to change a password or another trusted source.
From Townsquare IT (our IT dept.), here are some quick ways to tell if the email you’re about to open contains a virus or ransomware:
- You get an email from your bank, its asking for you to change your password.
- You get an email from some place offering a holiday getaway, you just need to enter your information.
- You get an email saying you owe the IRS money, and then asks you to click a link to go their site and enter your personal information.
- An email from a company has bad grammar/misspellings.
Pretty much, if you get an email that is asking you to download ANY software DO NOT CLICK IT! Don’t open it, click it or respond to it. Let your IT department know (if you have one), flag the email as spam and delete it.
And as they say in Hunger Games, “May the odds be ever in your favor.”