A ransomware strikes its victims by taking advantage of their ignorance about it. If a user is well-educated and acquainted with ransomware, they would be able to identify it in the initial stages of a ransomware attack. However, if you are one of those unfortunate people who have been struck by a ransomware attack and are now looking for ways to recover from it, then read on and follow the steps outlined below.
1. Trying to Counter the Ransomware
The first step is trying to counter the ransomware by taking help from software such as zonealarm anti ransomware. The best practice would be to keep such tools downloaded on your device beforehand only. However, if you didn’t do it before, then now is the time to do it. Try to download the anti-ransomware mentioned and see if the problem can be resolved.
2. Reinstall System
If the first step doesn’t work, try following this second one. Erase your system’s previous data and software and reinstall everything. Ideally, you should have your data backed up on another device or on an external hard drive. This would help you in gaining access back to it once you have reinstalled the whole system from scratch.
Even though starting from scratch and reinstalling everything would be a great measure, your device, which had once fallen prey to ransomware can be a victim again. Therefore, this time, install the anti-ransomware and filter out all shady conversations, emails, and websites from your internet history. Additionally, keep tabs on suspicious accounts you get messages from and report them first-hand without opening the messages or clicking on the links they send you. All of these steps would help you in staying safe from a second ransomware attack.
3. Paying the Ransom
However, if nothing works for you, you can choose to pay the ransom. This is not the ideal solution but if there is no other way around your situation, maybe you should pay the ransom and gain back access to your data.
Since there have been cases where people did not gain back access to their data even after paying the ransom, there are chances that you might experience the same fate. The best course of action to combat situations like this would be to take security agencies such as the FBI in confidence. Once your complaint is registered, they may even help you track the hackers.
Conclusion
The chances to recover from ransomware are usually bleak. The best methods include the installation of anti-ransomware and periodic backing up of data on external devices. Once a device gets hit with ransomware, the victim may feel insecure and refrain from using it in the future. Therefore, it is better to create a back up on an external hard drive and access data from it on other devices in the future. Other than this, all computer users must be proactive and take the necessary measures to prevent a ransomware attack.
