Success stories

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Wednesday, May 18, 2016

www.tillamookheadlightherald.com

Success Stories T I L L A M O O K C O U N T Y A N D T H E O R E G O N C OA S T

Honor Roll • Garibaldi Charters 607 Garibaldi Ave. Garibaldi (503) 322-0007 garibaldicharters.com • Garibaldi Museum 112 Garibaldi Ave. Garibaldi (503) 322-8411 garibaldimuseum.org • Stratos Wealth Partners 2505 Main Ave N, Ste. D Tillamook (503) 354-5136 stratoswealthpartners.com • The Blue Moon Cafe/ Vintage Nest Second St. and Main Ave. Tillamook (541) 285-5555

Protect your business: Harmonium LLC offers business solutions for data storage and protection

• Downies Cafe 9320 5th St, Bay City (503) 377-2220 www.facebook.com/ DowniesCafe/?fref=ts

By Joe Warren Publisher jwarren@countrymedia.net

become such a serious threat that now it has the potential to spell disaster for business professionals.” armonium LLC owned and Saldate says that operated by Jeremy Saldate is Tilhackers will take over lamook County’s newest tech company your computer, essenwith a focus on small business solutions for computer data storage and protection. tially shutting it down if you do not pay a Considering the gravity of current isransom. Frequently it’s sues, and the increasing number of hackScreenshot of CryptoLocker ers out there, no business computer is safe a hacker from another country. When small busifrom being taken over by a virus. Worse Complaint Center (IC3) shows ransomstill, computer viruses are becoming more nesses report it to the FBI, ware continues to spread and is infecting often nothing happens, they tell busness and more difficult to combat. devices around the globe. Recent IC3 reowners to “pay the ransom,” normally Harmonium LLC is officially opening porting identifies CryptoWall as the most around $500 or more in some cases. on June 1 after Saldate, a computer procurrent and significant ransomware threat If you pay the ransom, Saldate said, grammer and consultant, decided targeting U.S. individuals and businesses. you become a target to be hit to locate his company in CryptoWall and its variants have been again, and worse, hackers often Tillamook last used actively to target U.S. victims since ask for increasing amounts duryear. LLC m April 2014. The financial impact to iu n o ing subsequent attacks. If you “I was Harm aldate President victims goes beyond the ransom fee itself, S do not pay the ransom, you working for InJeremy . .O which is typically between $200 and .E C & may never be able to access 20 tel in Hillsboro , Suite 3 d $10,000. Many victims incur additional lv B p m your data again. for nearly 10 4000 Bli ook OR costs associated with network mitigation, m la “Some countries look Til years and was of400 -6 7 network countermeasures, loss of produc0 -2 3 at this as a legitimate 50 fered a buy-out, so mllc.com iu n tivity, legal fees, IT services, and/or the o rm a business,” he said. “So the I took it,” he said. www.h purchase of credit monitoring services for FBI or law enforcement “We moved to our employees or customers. Between April often has no jurisdiction when you beach house and I 2014 and June 2015, the IC3 received do get hacked. The FBI used to say ‘don’t started working on this new company. 992 CryptoWall-related complaints, with pay the ransom’, but now with the latest In a nutshell, I take care of victims reporting losses totaling over $18 versions of ransomware, they are recomnetwork security and data million. mending that businesses simply pay it.” management.” In a recent LA Times article, they According to Saldate, underworld Saldate said there is a very real and reported that Hollywood Presbyterian activities have become so well-organized growing need, especially for business Medical Center paid a $17,000 ransom and “user friendly” that virtually anyone, professionals, such as attorneys, mediin bitcoin [a form of digital currency] to a even non-technical users, can go onto the cal professionals, and financial advisors, hacker who seized control of the hospital’s internet, download software, and launch to store their data and protect it from computer systems and would give back an attack on anyone else. advancing viruses. access only when the money was paid. “For business professionals, this really “As computer viruses have gone from The assault on Hollywood Presbyterian can be a ‘worst-case scenario’” he said. mere nuisances to serious problems for occurred Feb. 5, when hackers using mal“And the government is focused on the businesses, we offer protection from ware infected the institution’s computers, big picture rather than the little guy, so them, and in some cases, methods to preventing hospital staff from being able that’s where we come in: by providing retrieve your information,” Saldate said. to communicate from those devices. protection for business professionals.” “One of the biggest threats to busiThe hacker demanded 40 bitcoin, the Saldate said that in 2014, CryptoWall nesses today (in terms of data storage equivalent of about $17,000. was developed as a form of ransomware. and recovery) is ransomware, a type of “The malware locks systems by encrypt“When it gets onto your computer, it computer virus that has been around ing files and demanding ransom to obtain encrypts everything on your computer since the 1980s. Back then ransomware the decryption key. The quickest and and locks you out of your files,” he said. was almost a joke, but it has advanced to most efficient way to restore our systems “You can’t access any of your files, and you can’t do much of and administrative functions was to pay anything other than follow the the ransom and obtain the decryption instructions to pay the ransom key,” a spokesman from the hospital said in the LA Times article. “In the best once you’ve been infected.” “An ounce of prevention can interest of restoring normal operations, we did this.” work wonders in this case,” The local solution is to visit with he said. Saldate who has focused on small business According to an article in solutions to this growing problem. the fall of 2015 from the San “The problem for small businesses Diego Press Tribune, data is that the FBI is focused on disabling from the FBI’s Internet Crime CTB-Locker message ransomware at the network level, resulting

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Headlight Herald

• Tillamook County Solid Waste 503 Marolf Loop (503) 815-3975 www.co.tillamook.or.us/ gov/solidwaste

Typical threat message

in little attention being given to reports submitted by small businesses,” Saldate said. “The other problem is the FBI has been so overwhelmed with requests for assistance that they are taking a triage approach, so small businesses often get left out in the cold, and in all likelihood they will not be helped by the FBI when this happens.”

Tips to protect yourself

(also from the San Diego Tribune): • Always use antivirus software and a firewall. It’s important to obtain and use antivirus software and firewalls from reputable companies. It’s also important to continually maintain both of these through automatic updates. • Enable popup blockers. Popups are regularly used by criminals to spread malicious software. To avoid accidental clicks on or within popups, it’s best to prevent them from appearing in the first place. • Always back up the content on your computer. If you back up, verify, and maintain offline copies of your personal and application data, ransomware scams will have limited impact on you. If you are targeted, instead of worrying about paying a ransom to get your data back, you can simply have your system wiped clean and then reload your files. • Be skeptical. Don’t click on any emails or attachments you don’t recognize, and avoid suspicious websites altogether. If you receive a ransomware popup or message on your device alerting you to an infection, immediately disconnect from the Internet to avoid any additional infections or data losses. Alert your local law enforcement personnel and file a complaint at www.IC3.gov.

Local solutions:

Saldate is hosting a luncheon seminar entitled: “Ransomware - What is it? What is your best defense?” on Wednesday, May 25 at 11 a.m. in the Port of Tillamook Bay Conference Room at 4000 Blimp Blvd. Call 503-207-6400 to reserve your space.

503-842-7535 • 1908 Second Street, Tillamook, OR 97141 To publish your own Success Story, contact: Jessica Sticklen, jsticklen@countrymedia.net Lisa Browning, lbrowning@countrymedia.net

• Ring Of Fire 496 US-101 Rockaway Beach (971) 306-1112 www.ringoffireglassworks.com • Kelley’s Place Garibaldi Opening at new location soon • City Of Rockaway Beach P.O. Box 5 276 Hwy 101 S. Rockaway Beach (503) 355-2291 rockawaybeachor.us • Offshore Grill 122 Hwy 101 North Rockaway Beach 503-355-3005 www.facebook.com/offshoregrill/ • Tillamook Hearing Aid Center 1134 Main Ave. (503) 842-9327 tillamookhhearing2013@gmail.com tillamookhearingaids.com • Toylandia 320 Landea Ave. Manzanita OR 503-368-TOYS • The Sustainable Bite 1904 3rd St Tillamook, OR 503-354-2559 • Harmonium LLC 4000 Blimp Blvd, Suite 320 Tillamook OR 503-207-6400 sales@harmoniumllc.com www.harmoniumllc.com

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