The Elgin County OPP are investigating after they received a complaint from a business that had their files locked out and encrypted. The OPP report that the business was then demanded to send a cryptocurrency payout in order for the company files to be unlocked.
The OPP’s Cybercrime Investigations Team is currently looking into the matter further, however they are reminding businesses and the public to use caution in order to avoid incidents like this from occurring. The OPP encourages the public to use strong passwords, use antivirus software and a firewall, as well as ensure that you have proper offline backups of computer system data.
They also remind computer users to think before you click as often time’s unfamiliar emails have links in them that can download malicious software onto your computers and devices. The OPP add that it is important for businesses and the public to take an active role in their cyber security to avoid any issues.

