Data backups, antivirus software among the ways to protect yourself from a cyberattack

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – A recent cyberattack at Pottawatomie Co. prevented officials from accessing many of their day-to-day systems.

Aaron Edwards, engineer at WIBW-TV, said that hackers accessing documents for financial gain remain a major risk for online users.

“It’s not about whether you have a data breach, it’s about when and how you handle it,” he said.

“We are currently at war with hackers in our country,” he said.

“Like any other battle, you’ll have fans with emails for the Nigerian prince trying to get you to give him your bank account, right down to advanced downloads where you just have to go to their website to be hacked.

He said that backing up data can ensure that important documents and precious memories are not lost.

He added that it is also useful to have anti-virus software as well as ransomware detection software on your computer.

“The main thing you can do as a home user today is keep your data in multiple places,” he advised.

“Your family photos, documents, CV, whatever you’ve worked on is at risk, so have it on your computer, but also on a cloud drive and USB stick and that can mitigate a lot of the risk. . “

He said timing is key for victims of cyber attacks.

“As soon as you see the notice that your computer has been attacked, they’ve been in your computer for some time and it’s already too late,” he said.

“At this point, the best thing to do is to simply unplug your computer’s power plug and remove it from your network as quickly as possible. “

He said being careful online would save users from long-term problems.

“Practice good computer hygiene, when reading the email, check the ‘from’ email to see if it matches, don’t download the files you aren’t expecting. “

Edwards adds that if you are the victim of a ransomware attack, do not pay the ransom as there is no guarantee that you will get back the lost data.

Pottawatomie Co.officials did not specify whether this was a ransomware attack – or which servers and data was affected by the attack, only that it did not have an impact on public security agencies.

Copyright 2021 WIBW. All rights reserved.