You may have seen recent reports of a significant ransomware incident at UCL. A small number of PCs were infected with malware which encrypted files stored both locally on the PCs and on network file shares. UCL’s Information Services suspect that the malware came from a compromised web site. To reduce the impact and risk of lost data, Information Services at UCL restricted their central file store to read-only whilst they dealt with the incident. As the university has backups and snapshots of the central file servers it looks like no data was lost.

To protect yourself from the risk of malware and losing important data:

· Ensure that software updates and patches are applied (if you see a pop-up stating that updates are ready to be installed, install them as soon as is convenient)

· Use central file shares or OneDrive for Business to store information (local files are not backed up and cannot be restored in the event of encryption by ransomware)

· Don’t fall for scam emails or web sites

· Contact the IT Service Desk if you are uncertain about the validity of an email message or web site

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