Friday Morning, 9:30 AM
Just when Chris thought he’d seen it all, Jemma from HR popped her head into the IT room.
“Chris, I need your help. My files are locked, and I swear I didn’t do anything!” she said, looking genuinely worried.
Chris followed her to her desk and opened her computer. A red warning message blared across the screen: “Your files have been encrypted. Pay 1 Bitcoin to unlock.”
Chris froze. Ransomware.
“Jemma, have you clicked on any suspicious links or opened strange emails recently?” Chris asked, his tone serious.
“No! Well, maybe… I got an email saying my account had been flagged, so I opened the attachment to check. It seemed important!” she said sheepishly.
Chris sighed. “That’s phishing, Jemma. That’s how they got in.”
He quickly disconnected her computer from the network to stop the spread of the ransomware. Then he booted into recovery mode and started restoring her files from the most recent backup. Luckily, the company’s backup system—one of the few well-maintained parts of the IT infrastructure—saved the day.
As Chris worked, Jemma offered a weak smile. “You know, Jack never let this kind of thing happen.”
Chris chuckled darkly. “Yeah, well, Jack probably would’ve told you not to open sketchy emails.”
Jemma looked genuinely apologetic. “I’ll be more careful next time. Promise.”
Chris smirked, finishing the recovery. “Good. Let’s keep it that way.”