‘Don’t pay the ransom’: What Northeast Wisconsinites should do if faced with a ransomware attack

GREEN BAY, Wis. (NBC 26) — All it takes is one click; a click that could cost you or your company big money.”If it’s more than $11 million, are you gonna pay the $11 million to get back on sooner?,” NWTC Instructor of System Security Ryan Van Scyoc asked. “Probably. So that’s probably what’s gonna happen. “JBS paid $11 million to resolve ransomware attacks, company saysAfter beef supplier JBS fell victim to a cyberattack from Russian-speaking hackers nearly two weeks ago, the company announced Wednesday night it paid an $11 million ransom to mitigate any further damage. And experts say it could happen to anyone, but should you pay a ransom? Van Scyoc says ‘no.'”For your personal laptop, don’t pay the ransom,” he said. “Make a backup.”

UWGB professor Gaurav Bansal agrees. He says paying hackers only fuels the fire.

“If we stop paying them as a society, we stop paying them, these attacks will dry out,” Bansal said. “Instead of negotiating with attackers, Bansal advises people to contact authorities or even call 911.

“What you can do as an individual if it happens to you, you can basically inform the local FBI office,” Bansal said. “We have an FBI office in Green Bay.”

While ransom attacks are on the rise, Bansal says Northeast Wisconsinites can rest easy.

Source: ‘Don’t pay the ransom’: What Northeast Wisconsinites should do if faced with a ransomware attack