A Ransomware Attack's New Goal: Shutting Your Business Down
One open door on one machine can stop your whole operation. Here's how to find yours.
Run My Computer Scan →No credit card. Nothing to install. About two minutes.
The problem: A ransomware attack now freezes your whole operation, not just your files — and it usually starts with one unpatched machine nobody checked. The hardest part is you can't see which machine that is.
The solution: Find the open doors on your machines before someone walks through, close them, and keep a clean backup ready so a bad day stays a bad day instead of a closed business.
In this article
What just happened
June was brutal for hospitals. Healthcare was the hardest-hit field of the month, with 28 ransomware attacks. The University of Mississippi Medical Center closed clinics across the state. Its medical records system went down. The phones died. Chemo appointments got canceled. Lurie Children's in Chicago had systems offline for over a month. (source)
Manufacturers are right behind them. When a ransomware attack hits a plant, the machines stop and the line goes quiet. One day of downtime costs more than any stolen file ever did. #Ransomware #SmallBusiness
Why a ransomware attack is really about downtime
The old fear was "they'll steal my data." The new reality is worse: they freeze everything. A hospital that can't pull up records. A shop that can't ship. A front desk staring at a black screen while the phones ring.
What a ransomware attack really charges you for is every hour you can't open. That's leverage most businesses have never stopped to price out — and it's why the crews keep coming.
The one machine nobody checked
A ransomware attack doesn't kick down the front door. It slips through an open one — an unpatched app, a setting that shipped switched off, a flaw that's been sitting there for years. Your IT guy updates Windows. But the 60-some other apps on each machine — WinRAR, 7-Zip, the PDF reader, Zoom — nobody patches those. That's the door.
You only need one machine with one open door for the whole operation to go down. The trouble is you can't tell which one until you look.
You can't watch every machine yourself. Nobody can.
You're running a business, not a security operations center. Not knowing which computer is the weak one is a normal place to be — it's just the place the crews count on.
I've spent 30 years watching how these attacks work, and the pattern is always the same: one open door, one machine nobody had checked, one bad morning. The good news is you can find that machine before they do — and that part, we made simple.
How it works
No guesswork. Here's exactly what happens when you click the button — three steps, about two minutes total.
No credit card. Nothing to install. About two minutes.
Our promise to you
✅ No credit card to start, and nothing to install.
✅ We only look and report. The scan never changes a thing on your computer.
✅ Your results are yours. We don't sell your data — ever.
✅ If you're fine, the report says so. No scare tactics, no pressure.
✅ Straight talk. We say "found" and "flagged," never "stopped" or "guaranteed."
✅ Move up only if you want to. Paid plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
See it, fix it, keep it safe
Everyone starts the same way — with the scan. From there, you choose how much help you want. For a ransomware attack, fixing and watching are where the real protection lives.
1. Reveal — See it 🔦 Start here
You run the scan and the email checks yourself — the 74-point computer scan, a plain-English report, and verdicts on suspicious emails. $9 per seat / month for business (10-seat minimum), or $47/month personal. Or start with no card.
Run My Computer Scan →2. Fortify — Fix it 🔧 Most popular
The doors a ransomware crew uses reopen every month — a Windows update resets a setting, a new laptop joins the team. Fortify closes them and keeps them closed: automatic patching and hardening on every machine, every month, plus a dashboard and phishing training. Includes everything in Reveal. $147 per computer / month.
See how Fortify works →3. Support & Defend — Keep it safe 🛡️
The breach you find out about Monday started Friday night. Defend adds people watching around the clock who act when something triggers, plus endpoint protection, DNS-layer defense, and managed backup — so a clean copy is ready before you ever need it. The only tier that covers servers. $247 per computer / month, $497 per server / month (by consult, 5-device minimum).
Talk to us about Defend →Built on Craig Peterson's 30 years in cybersecurity. Each tier includes everything in the one before it.
"I've got backups, so I'm covered."
Backups are your lifeline — if they work. The hosers go after them first, and plenty of folks find out their backup hasn't actually run in months only after they need it. A backup you've never tested is a guess, not a plan.
Start by seeing what's open on your machines. The scan takes two minutes. If you're fine, the report will say so.
See it. Then fix it.
A ransomware attack needs one open door. Find yours first — two minutes, and you'll know exactly what's open, so you can get back to running the place instead of guessing.
Run My Computer Scan →No credit card. Nothing to install. About two minutes.
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