The Crytolocker Virus isn’t dead — and it’s still making its rounds. While customers may hire managed services providers (MSP) to protect them against this malicious virus, MSPs may not be their best line of defense.

If customers look in the mirror, they’ll find the best line of defense against the Cryptolocker virus staring back at them. They, in fact, are the ones who first come in contact with this malicious virus that restricts access to infected computers and demands payment before decrypting files.

Clients First CTO Mark Chinsky reviewed this particular type of malware on his company’s blog. He recommended three ways for MSPs and customers to protect themselves from the nasty virus.

Do not remove the virus

By removing the Cryptolocker virus, a customer eliminates any chance of ever decrypting the files, Chinsky said. Purposely re-infecting a machine to recover files will not work, since the encryption key will be different.

Maintain quality anti-virus and malware software

It may seem basic, but Chinsky said quality anti-virus and malware software must be properly maintained.

“In this particular case, most of the top anti-virus solutions still aren’t reliably detecting this before encryption occurs and this malware will inevitably morph again to become undetectable,” he said.

Education protects customers

Above all, educating customers on how to protect themselves from the Cryptolocker virus can go a long way. Understanding what should and should not be “clicked” can prevent intial contact with any type of malware.

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