One of Jake's employees, whom we'll call Tom, received an email containing a link to ransomware.
Tom believed the email was from a trusted source.
Tom clicked on the link.
Immediately, the link caused ransomware to download and execute on Tom's computer.
The ransomware locked all project data on Tom's computer.
The ransomware demanded payment of $100,000 for the key to unlock the project data.
Jake and Tom were in a panic.
What should they do?
The $100,000 payment would be a substantial financial drain on Jake's business account.
If Jake paid out the $100,000, he would not have enough money left to pay employee salaries and pay other expenses, such as rent.
His business could fail.
Fortunately, we backed up Jake's computers including Toms.
We spun up a Virtual Machine (VM) of Tom's computer, within minutes of receiving notification of the ransomware infection.
Tom resumed working on his projects.
Jake was relieved he didn't have to pay out $100,000.
Tom felt bad he had clicked on a ransomware link.
We set up a regular cyber security training program for Jake's employees.
Now that Jake's employees are trained, they are less likely to click on malicious links in emails.