This email is what a ransomware attack can look like

Click on this image to see an email I received purporting to be from Australia Post. Checking the email address, the sender is lois@libero.it. This is not Australia Post.

If I clicked on the attachment in the email, the ZIP file, on a PC running Windows I would have been locked out of the computer and subject to a ransomware attack.

More and more newsagents are being affected by these malicious attacks, they are being locked out of their businesses.

You can avoid being hit by an attack by taking care with your emails.

1. Do not click on emails or attachments unless you are sure of the sender.
2. The ATO will not email you.
3. Your bank will not email you.
4. Australia Post will not email you, not like the example I have posted.

If you are not sure of the sender, ignore the email. Tell everyone who has access to your email. Lay out your ground rules and demand discipline.

Most ransomware attacks can be avoided.

For protection, backup your hard disk to a location external to your business. This could be a removable drive or a cloud based backup service.

Backing up your data to the hard disk will not protect you as this will be locked out by the ransomware attack. I know of a retailer who was backing up to the hard disk drive in their computer as advised by a local IT tech. This was bad advice. They lost all their data.

Here is another example I received this afternoon at 4:45PM: