Leader in Unified Communications Helps Businesses Fight Malware
Baton Rouge, LA – May 31, 2016 – Gage a leader in unified communications, announced today that they have launched a ransomware awareness campaign. The purpose of the campaign is to quickly educate business owners in understanding one of the latest threats now facing small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs). Ransomware is a specific variation of malware, that is growing in popularity amongst hackers and Gage is doing its best to alert business owners of this new tactic. Gage’s existing customers are very well protected against this type of threat but many business owners may be unaware of the potential destruction this has on an organization.
While business owners have always understood the need to protect their businesses from malware, short for “malicious software”, ransomware is a new tactic that hackers are using to attack businesses in an especially wicked way. Essentially, an employee will receive an email with a deceptive link, labeled “See Resume Here” or “Download Report Now”, and then upon clicking the link, a ransomware application will be installed immediately on the computer. Then, the software can remain hidden for several days, until it is activated. At that moment, the ransomware application will hijack critical files, remove them from the network, encrypt them so no other computers can access them and then hackers will send an email demanding payment for the release of the missing files. The biggest problem with this type of cyber attack is that it leaves absolutely no leverage to the business owner. Even if they pay the “ransom”, hackers don’t necessarily unlock the files every time. “This is a huge problem that could have drastic impact on an organization and the craziest thing we notice is that there is such a simple solution,” stated Jason Landry, VP of Sales at Gage.
“These types of attacks happen far too often, and we take great pride in protecting our customers from threats like this,” added Landry. “The first line of defense for these kinds of attacks is a technically educated staff. While the majority of these threats come in the form of suspicious email links, an educated staff can avoid these catastrophes simply through awareness. That’s one of the reasons why we issued this press release,” commented Landry. “For business owners that see the value of peace of mind, we devise comprehensive solutions that thwart these types of attacks from every angle. We take a global approach that includes a combination of anti-virus software, anti-malware software, strong firewalls, employee education, data backup, and network redundancy. What we’ve noticed over the years is that every network has different exposure points and our job is to come in as a technology advisor and to proactively prevent not only ransomware attacks, but the myriad of others attacks that a business owner may face for years to come.”
Gage’s mission is to leave business owners in a more empowered position by serving as an educator of emergent technologies. “Our biggest aim with this campaign is to usher in a sense of urgency amongst business owners so they take action now, instead of waiting to be in a difficult, immutable situation later,” closed Landry.