A malicious software program that encrypts your data and demands a ransom(money) to decrypt them. 

Ransomware is defined as a term for the many variations of malware that infect computer systems, usually by social engineering attacks.

Led by the WannaCry attack on computers in 150 countries, global ransomware attacks rose 350 percent in 2017 over the previous year. Despite the global media attention, many organizations may not have adequate protection and could still be vulnerable to a ransomware attack.

Cybercriminals who profit greatly by violating businesses that rely on data as a crucial assets.

Ransomware cybercriminals are organized and profitable. It is estimated that this type of attack earns criminals $10 million to $50 million per month.

Entire ransomware entity are working out of office buildings, making the stealthy and disruptive pieces of malicious software, and designing deceptively simple schemes to infiltrate small to medium sized businesses.

Ransomware criminal cast a wide net. They target small to medium sized businesses with IT security loopholes, valuable data, and a modest budget to pay the ransom. If data is important to your business, you are a target.

To get in to your systems, they may send a phishing email to your staff. Because 94% of people can’t distinguish between a real email and a phishing email 100% of the time, they get in. And if they don’t, they try again until someone somewhere clicks the link.