The National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, on Saturday issued an emergency advice to Nigerians about a rampaging ransomware virus that emerged across the globe on Friday.
In a statement issued by its Director General, Ibrahim Pantami, NITDA gave Nigerians guidelines on how to protect their personal and workplace computers from being affected by ransomware.
In a statement issued by its Director General, Ibrahim Pantami, NITDA gave Nigerians guidelines on how to protect their personal and workplace computers from being affected by ransomware.
“Should your system be infected by ransomware, isolate the system from your network to prevent the threat from further spreading. In addition, the following actions can be taken immediately:
• Remove the system from Network.
• Do not use flash/pen drive, external drives on the System to copy files
to other systems.
• Format the System completely and get fresh OS copy installed.
For emergency assistance, contact NITDA Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team (CERRT) on: 800-9988-7766- 5544 or e-mail: support@cerrt.ng.
As a general precautionary measure, NITDA recommended that individuals and organisations should:
• Regularly update their operating systems with the latest patches.
• Regularly update their software applications with latest patches.
• Avoid downloading and opening unsolicited files and attachments.
• Adjust security software to scan compressed or archived files
• Avoid indiscriminate use of wireless connections, such as Bluetooth or infrared ports.