A fighting chance against ransomware

It’s official: whether your operating system of choice is Windows or Mac OS X, your computer is a potential ransomware target. While one bit of good news is that the emphasis on downloading apps from either the Windows Store or the Mac App Store, as well as increased security features included in Windows 10, and the upcoming macOS Sierra, offer some insulation from the chance of bumping into ransomware-laced malware, there is a large number of users who are still reliant on older and far more vulnerable operating systems, including Windows XP, or OS X Mountain Lion typically running on older MacBooks.

With that said, obscure third party software is only one side of the coin, as an increasingly preferred method of ransomware infection is through email attachments, or emails containing URLs to malware-filled websites.