Simple things you can do to protect against ransomware attacks – ABC News

Experts told ABC News to always update your software and backup files remotely.

Source: Simple things you can do to protect against ransomware attacks – ABC News

Very good advice on how to avoid ransomware.

Those update pop-ups may be annoying, but it’s a very good idea to have them install as soon as you can. Also, get rid of Adobe Flash on your computer. If you go to websites that use Flash, you are better off loading the page in Google Chrome which has it built in.  You may need to enable it in Chrome.  This can be done by going to Settings/Preferences, scroll to the bottom and select Show advanced settings.  Then click on Content settings and scroll down to Flash.

Some other good habits/advice:

• Do not click on pop-up advertisements.
• Don’t open e-mail attachments from people unless you are expecting them from the sender. Send them an e-mail confirming that they sent it.
• Don’t click on links in e-mails. Type them into your browser.
• Backup your files regularly and often. External portable hard drives can be bought for $50 or so. MacOS has “Time Machine” built in to allow you to make automatic backups. Windows 10 has a similar feature called “File History“.
• Also, it is a good idea to have a cloud backup. I use a service called iDrive, which costs $52 for the first year for 1TB and can backup all your devices, but you could use DropBox, OneDrive, Google Drive, etc.
• A good anti-virus also helps. I use Bitdefender and find it quite reliable. On Windows, there is Windows Defender which is also quite good and free.  MacOS also has some built-in security.

Many of the computers which were hit by “WannaCry” were running versions of Windows which are no longer supported by Microsoft. If your computer can’t run the latest version of the OS, it may be time to consider replacing your computer.

If you’re running Windows, Microsoft always releases patches and updates on “Patch Tuesday” – the second and occasionally fourth Tuesday of the month. Go to Settings -> Update & Security -> Windows Update and click on the Check for updates button.

If you are running MacOS, click on the apple () in the upper left corner of the screen, select App Store and then Updates.

If you are running iOS, open the Settings app, tap General and then Software Update. To see if there are iOS app updates, open the App Store app and the Updates tab.

On Android devices, you might or might not get updates when Google releases them since they go through the device manufacturer (HTC, Samsung, etc.) and also the carrier (AT&T, Verizon, etc.). You can check for updates by opening the Settings app, scroll down to About Phone (Tablet) and then System updates and Check now.

Bottom line is, would you rather get in the habit of checking for updates on a regular basis or lose your priceless photos, documents, music, etc.