We’ve been hard at work on new episodes and one of the issues we tackle is “ransomware.” Many users aren’t familiar with this malicious software, but their reactions are often quite varied. Some folks go straight into crisis mode and re-allocate funds originally designated for Carol’s birthday gift. Others rely on the “big guns” and call in their celebrity friends to record a charity single. Still others simply act like we act around Valentine’s Day and curl up into a ball and weep.
In order to get a read on the leadership perspective, we decided to conduct a survey of IT professionals and ask them their thoughts. As luck would have it, we reached each of our pros just moments after they learned their organization had been the victim of a ransomware attack, so not only was the issue fresh on their minds, they certainly had an opinion about it.
How did IT professionals, who had just learned their systems were under attack, respond? Here were the top three responses shared amongst the group.
- (Unintelligible screaming) People sure are passionate about this issue! In between primal yelling and shouting, we did make out words and phrases like “no backup?” and “common sense” and “if I’ve said it once I’ve said it a million times,” but the rest was a wall of noise and fury to which we could only reply, “Thanks for your time! Good day!”
- (Hysterical laughing) We’re not sure exactly why, but the extremely high pitched laughter reminded us of how our spouses have responded when we mentioned we may have lost life savings/houses/offspring on an ill-advised investment (read: blackjack table). This tells us not only are IT professionals ready for information on this subject, but they’ll probably have a sense of humor about it. Good news for us!
- (Sounds of expensive equipment being smashed): Easy there! How are you going to watch our new series if you have nothing to watch it on! To be sure, ransomware costs everyone money. No need for it to cost even more because a monitor got in the way of your flying fist!
With employees hungry for information and IT professionals ready to give it to them (and we mean really give it to them), the time is perfect for a “Restricted Intelligence” episode on the subject of ransomware. Stay tuned!
And happy birthday, Carol! Hope you liked the IOU!