Ransomware, which is when a criminal encrypts an organization’s data and then demands payment before releasing the key required to reverse the encryption that is holding the victim’s data hostage, has made international headlines lately. The city of Atlanta’s operations were virtually dragged to a halt after an unmet demand for roughly $50,000 in ransom ended up essentially crippling the city’s government and has already cost at least $2.7 million dollars in recovery efforts to date.[1] This type of attack is not new, but is making more headlines, with Connecticut[2], Colorado[3], hospitals, and even aid groups for children in Ontario[4] falling victim. The plethora of attacks has sent security professionals and system administrators scrambling to ensure their systems and backups are safe, and executives taking a second look at their cyber security programs. https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__bit.ly_2rAGVce&d=DwIFaQ&c=pZJPUDQ3SB9JplYbifm4nt2lEVG5pWx2KikqINpWlZM&r=b5NZPQUb9_r2rQ3Zd74ATT3aSs9yKyRnJLOhqJvd7fE&m=AE3n6ZzagCdrD6ukL9V-GxzhKwIswaqbFZcvTrQk2lQ&s=zoo26nymLEwXFz4GVZeZjURP979g5dcwT_fY4lRyNHQ&e= https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__bit.ly_2rAGVce-2B&d=DwIFaQ&c=pZJPUDQ3SB9JplYbifm4nt2lEVG5pWx2KikqINpWlZM&r=b5NZPQUb9_r2rQ3Zd74ATT3aSs9yKyRnJLOhqJvd7fE&m=AE3n6ZzagCdrD6ukL9V-GxzhKwIswaqbFZcvTrQk2lQ&s=1Bze7Mosjd3qls0ur42bpzblHyQHJv3jsd3AK4P1SAI&e= -- Peterk Dallas, Tx [log in to unmask] Save our in-boxes! https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__emailcharter.org&d=DwIFaQ&c=pZJPUDQ3SB9JplYbifm4nt2lEVG5pWx2KikqINpWlZM&r=b5NZPQUb9_r2rQ3Zd74ATT3aSs9yKyRnJLOhqJvd7fE&m=AE3n6ZzagCdrD6ukL9V-GxzhKwIswaqbFZcvTrQk2lQ&s=w-lL_Ry8XCVZ78IpFbfjW9LIl8avyCbMPOY_9WTVBtE&e= “If only there were a massive entity that I were forced to fund to tell me how I should live my life, since I’m so obviously incapable of deciding for myself.” M. Hashimoto List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance To unsubscribe from this list, click the below link. If not already present, place UNSUBSCRIBE RECMGMT-L or UNSUB RECMGMT-L in the body of the message. mailto:[log in to unmask]