Ransomware
How We Protect Your Data from Ransomware
It is important to us to provide you timely information regarding the steps we take to protect our customers’ data in the event of a Ransomware attack.
Criminals use Ransomware to hold your data hostage. They will typically include malware as an attachment in an email or as an embedded link in the email. The recipient opens the attachment or clicks on the link and the ransomware installs to their PC or laptop. The malware will quickly encrypt the data stored on the workstation and other network resources and, when the encryption is complete, demand a ransom from the victim, typically payable in bitcoin. The criminals will promise to provide the victim with the key to decrypt the data, but there are no guarantees.
F&M Bank takes the following steps to protect our customers’ data from malware, especially Ransomware:
• The Bank trains its employees to recognize phishing email attempts and the Bank tests compliance with our polices on a quarterly basis.
• The Bank continuously patches and updates the operating systems of our workstations and servers.
• Software applications are patched to the latest versions and configured to reduce the risk of malware infection.
• Anti-virus software is installed to all workstations and servers and the virus signature files are continuously updated.
• We employ spam filters and secure email protocols to help prevent malware laden email from reaching our employees.
• An Intrusion Detection/Intrusion Prevention system also monitors traffic to alert the Bank and block malware infections.
• Web filters prevent employee access to sites known to host malware or other malicious material.
• The Bank performs daily backups of all customer data and the backups are segregated from the network to prevent a malicious encryption of the data.
We appreciate your trust in our financial institution. Please contact us online or at your nearby branch for any account-related questions you may have.
