Computer viruses such as ransomware are a hot topic for someone in the IT industry. For someone in the automotive industry, however, computer viruses may or may not be a topic you know anything about. After all, why does the owner of a delivery fleet, transportation fleet, or car lot need to know anything about computer viruses?
Part of being a good leader for your business is being aware of anything that could potentially harm it. If any aspect of your business operates using computers, data, or just the internet in general – ransomware could cause your business harm.
How do you protect your business data?
Before you even start to learn more about how scary ransomware can be for your business, you should learn more about how to protect your business data. For starters, keep all business-related data on secure and encrypted devices, such as the flash drives sold at SecureUSB.com. Encryption and extra layers of security will make it harder for hackers to gain access to any and all of your business data.
Ransomware can be lethal in the automotive industry
Because you work in the automotive industry, you know vehicles operate using a computer. Did you know that hackers can hack into the computer of a vehicle? After hacking into the computer of the vehicle, the hacker can take control of the vehicle. Depending on what type of business you are in, a hacker gaining access to your vehicles could destroy your business.
Putting it into perspective
Imagine for a moment you are the owner of a delivery fleet. You are responsible for delivering packages to your customers all day. Where do you think most delivery fleets are going to keep the information regarding customers and package details? Chances are pretty good it is being kept on a laptop or tablet.
If you have more than one delivery driver, you may even have some kind of network your drivers connect to in order to see where they are going and what they are delivering.
Now, imagine the network containing all of your customers getting infected with ransomware. The ransomware takes over the network and then it takes all of your customers’ data hostage. In order to get the customer data back, the ransomware demands a payment.
This creates a big problem because within that data includes all sorts of personal information and possibly financial information. In addition to stopping your business in its tracks, it also puts all of your customers at risk.
All variations of ransomware work the same
While there are several different types of ransomware, they all work the same way. This just means that once you know a little about ransomware – you know everything there is to know about it. This is a computer virus that infects your computer, kidnaps your data, and demands money in order to give the data back.
Now that you know what ransomware is and why it can be so damaging to someone in the automotive industry, you just need to take a few steps to protect your business from this nightmare.
Only use secure devices, never open files or click links when you don’t know what they are, and use caution when downloading things. By being careful, you can avoid having your business destroyed by this awful computer virus.