An undervalued benefit of working at an insurance company is that I get a free education on all the types of risks I can face as an individual or as part of an organization. This is a story of when it came in handy.

It was a fairly normal, but busy, day at work. I had returned to my desk from an energetic R&D meeting where my team members discuss ideas for new products for our clients. As I started to search for a file on my computer to write out the minutes, I was greeted by an image similar to the following:

Could it really be…? I pondered. The dreaded C word has hit MFI??

The “C-word” I was referring to is the Cryptolocker, an insidious form of malware I learned about at a Smart Dolphins Lunch & Learn on Cybersecurity. It’s actually quite a clever scheme. Once your computer is infected, the malware quietly encrypts all the files on your hard drive. The only hope of retrieving your files, if you do not have a reliable, uninfected backup, is by paying the ransom.

In my case, I didn’t have to look for long to find the ransom note:

Luckily, I was able to advise our IT department immediately. They were quick to isolate the drive the files were working on and wiped and re-imaged the infected computers.

Since we are so proactive on backing up our systems, we were able to restore all of our files!

A happy ending to a minor disruption – all because we are prepared.

So now that we established that I am a hero, how can you be one too?

1. Backup your files and backup your backups!
2. Know the threats – our Cyber Risk Guide is a great place to start.

Some popular emails that Cryptolocker like to hide in are:

1. Emails from people with a Resume attached
2. Emails from Amazon- check to see if its addressed to you by name or to “Dear Customer”
3. Emails from Banks, CRA or other financial institutions saying you need to take action and follow a link.
4. These emails are usually not addressed to you specifically, aren’t branded properly or come in just text format.

3. Do NOT open attachments or links in emails unless you are expecting to receive one.
4. If you want to follow a link, hover your mouse over the link (without clicking it) and see if the link name and destination match. You can see from the image below where the link in the word “Cyber Risk Guide” take you.

As a wise author once said: ‘Constant Vigilance!’ – is there any other way to live?

 Salimah Ismail is an Executive Assistant at Megson FitzPatrick Insurance.