Don’t pay ransoms. But if you must, here’s where to buy the Bitcoins

Ransomware grew into a $1 billion industry last year, and ransom payments now account for nearly 10 percent of the entire Bitcoin economy.

Avoiding becoming part of that statistic requires good endpoint security and effective backups. But what if your defenses fail, your backups are inadequate, all attempts to restore the data fail, and you have to pay the ransom after all — what do you do?

First of all, get the ball rolling on improving your security. Second, if the ransomware includes a recommendation for where to buy the Bitcoins, take it with a grain of salt. These guys are, after all, criminals. They might steer you wrong.

Instead, go to a reputable exchange.

Read full article at CSO magazine.

This article was also reprinted in Network World.