Virus and Ransomware Removal & Protection
Virus and Ransomware Removal & Protection
What is malware?
Malware is malicious software, which – if able to run – can cause harm in many ways, including:
- Causing a device to become locked or unusable
- Stealing, deleting, or encrypting data
- Taking control of your devices to attack other organisations
- Obtaining credentials which allow access to your organisation’s systems or services that you use
- ‘mining’ cryptocurrency
- using services that may cost you money (e.g. premium rate phone calls).
What is ransomware?
Ransomware is a type of malware that prevents you from accessing your computer (or the data that is stored on it). The computer itself may become locked, or the data on it might be stolen, deleted, or encrypted. Some ransomwares will also try to spread to other machines on the network, such as the WannaCry malware that impacted the NHS in May 2017.
Usually, you’re asked to contact the attacker via an anonymous email address or follow instructions on an anonymous web page, to make payment. The payment is invariably demanded in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin, to unlock your computer, or access your data. However, even if you pay the ransom, there is no guarantee that you will get access to your computer, or your files. Occasionally malware is presented as ransomware, but after the ransom is paid the files are not decrypted. This is known as wiper malware. For these reasons, it’s essential that you always have a recent offline backup of your most important files and data.
Did you know?
- Four in ten businesses (39%) and a quarter of charities (26%) report having cyber security breaches or attacks in the last 12 months.
- Among the 39 per cent of businesses and 26 per cent of charities that identify breaches or attacks, one in five (21% and 18% respectively) end up losing money, data or other assets.
- Among those that have identified breaches or attacks, around a quarter (27% of these businesses and 23% of these charities) experience them at least once a week.
- The average cost of all the cyber security breaches these businesses have experienced in the past 12 months is estimated to be £8,460. For medium and large firms combined, this average cost is higher, at £13,400
What Our Customers Are Saying About Us
APOC IT Solutions helped transfer all of our emails across to the new system, spent time explaining everything so I was clear on how it all worked, and even had separate zoom calls with different team members who were struggling to set things up their end
They were patient, professional and on hand whenever we needed them.
I was introduced to APOC IT Solutions earlier as a team who would be able to give me IT support in the set up of my business. Their professionalism and approachable manner made them the perfect team to advise me and give me the right guidance and support. I have recommended APOC IT Solutions to others, and I know they equally got great advice and are delighted with the service they provided
APOC IT Solutions completed the migration swiftly and hassle-free, so within 36 hours of our first conversation, the Social Know How team was fully set up on Office365 Professional. Throughly professional and highly recommended.
I spoke with APOC IT Solutions and explained what we were working with and the problems I was finding. They were able to come up with a much smoother system that synced all the accounts and devices. Within a week, APOC IT Solutions had backed up all of my old emails and migrated them over and I can now access from all my devices.
I’m not fully sure what they did as this wouldn’t be my area of expertise, but it certainly is theirs, as now my emails work seamlessly between my devices.