How you handle IT security is more important than ever. Ransomware, a type of malicious software that blocks access to a system until money is paid, and cyberattacks are rising across all industries, according to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center.

In 2015, the FBI reports that it received 2,453 complaints of ransomware incidents for which victims paid more than $24 million. That’s up significantly from 2014, when 1,838 victims reported that their companies paid $23.8 million between April and December.

These attacks run the gamut, and can include stealing financial details or customer information, locking up machines, launching distributed denial-of-service attacks, encrypting data or relaying spam to your customers. Ransom demands can run from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars, usually paid in Bitcoins.

So what’s a CEO to do? [Read more…]