– Are you sitting pretty or a sitting duck?
Date: Tuesday, October 3rd, 7:30 p.m.
Location: Danbury Hospital Auditorium
Presenter: Chris Furey
A bad actor remotely locks up your computer and demands a ransom (usually in bitcoins). Do you know what to do if it happens to you? Will you ever see your data again . . . even if you pay the ransom? How vulnerable are you and how can you best protect yourself? Get guidance to this and much more in an interactive and timely discussion led by Chris Furey at our October meeting.
It’s not just consumers being attacked. Corporations, small businesses and even government agencies are having their computer files held to ransom – even local police. Cybercrime costs small and midsized businesses $75 billion a year, including the loss of productivity and the cost of recovering files. 1 in 131 email messages today contain malware, and more than 400 businesses are targeted by spear phishing emails each day.
Ransomware is a type of malware that in some way restricts access to a computer system that it infects, and demands that the user pay a ransom to the operators of the malware to remove the restriction. Ransomware continues to increase in popularity for two reasons: 1. Victims are paying, and 2. Advances in technology are making attacks easier. Regardless of the type of ransomware, the overall concept remains consistent – extort the PC user by encrypting their most important data. The last twelve months have seen the most growth in ransomware since its origination in 1989.
Chris Furey is the Managing Partner and CTO of Virtual Density in Danbury CT. He is a trusted authority for objective guidance in Cyber Security and Cloud Computing. Over 37 years of client engagements, he has helped C-level executives, CIOs & LOB managers by providing counsel wherever business and technology touch. Chris has created strategy, services and resilient information systems for consulting organizations, national brands, and hundreds of small enterprises.
DACS General Meetings begin at 7:30 pm and are free and open to the public. Members and prior attendees are encouraged to extend invitations to anyone interested in this topic. DACS holds its general meetings in the Creasy Auditorium at Danbury Hospital. There is plenty of free parking in the Rizzo guest parking garage adjacent to the auditorium. Go to Directions to find directions and parking information