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Back up your data, companies urged

Small and medium-sized companies have been warned that cyber crooks are now turning their attention towards them and they should back up their data to avoid falling victim to Ransomware.

Ransomware, writes ZDNet is "the use of malicious code to hijack user files, encrypt them and then demand payment in exchange for the decryption key".

In a show of how sophisticated the cyber crooks are becoming, online security specialist Kaspersky Labs says the criminals are using encryption algorithms to lock the files, which are sometimes too complex for antivirus companies.

Underlining the importance of backing up files, especially for small companies that may not have an IT department, David Emm, senior technology consultant at Kaspersky UK says there is a likelihood of antivirus companies being unable to decrypt the files.

However according to software security vendor Sophos, this should not pose a problem, if consumers are well prepared for such eventualities.

"If your data is backed up, you can recover," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos.

The Times of India reports of the hijackers using dirty tactics like putting pornographic images on victim's computers and threatening to expose them for possession of such material.

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