Menomonee Falls Business was Attacked by Ransomware
Ransomware is not just happening to individual people any more businesses are now falling victim including some right here in Wisconsin.
Ransomware is when hackers take control of your computer and force victims to pay to get their information unlocked.
A local business in Menomonee Falls had its system held at ransom and the BBB and law enforcement agencies said it's becoming a problem.
The BBB said that there are nearly four thousand cases of ransomware that happen to people and businesses every day.
They also said 93 percent of phishing scams are connected to ransomware.
Menomonee Falls police said Wood Specialties Company fell victim to a ransomware case last month. Hackers demanded thousands of dollars.
Earlier this summer, the entire city of Janesville fell victim to ransomware hackers after a city official says multiple employees opened spam emails.
The city's IT department was able to keep sensitive information from being stolen.
If you fall victim, experts do not recommend paying the ransom because that could encourage hackers to do it again.
"I know of one Milwaukee organization was able to not pay the ransom because they had good data backups. It really is a cat and mouse game. The computers get faster, attacks get more sophisticated or more clever, and then we end up having to come up with some kind of prevention measures for that," said IT instructor Mark Miller, Milwaukee Area Technical College.
"We hear more from small businesses because we deal more with small businesses. People who probably don't have their own chief information officer. By having everything backed up, and not just a thumb drive shoved into your compute because you won't be able to access your computer. It should be a removable hard drive that you should back up your own information with," said Jim Temmer, President of the Better Business Bureau.
Experts also recommend backing up your information on a hard drive if you end up falling victim to ransomware hackers.