Consumers today are faced with a greater risk of malware infection than at any previous time. The number of threats lurking in cyberspace is skyrocketing and cybercriminals are increasingly gaining access to more sophisticated tools to launch attacks against unsuspecting users. The emergence of exploit kits has even allowed those lacking any hacking skills to infect machines with devastating malicious code. Cybersecurity professionals seem to be perpetually caught in an arms race with the world’s hackers, releasing new defenses only to see them quickly circumvented by the latest threat. The increasing threat posed by computer viruses and other malware has led many consumers to consider their available cybersecurity and data archiving solutions with greater scrutiny.

Although numerous forms of malware exist in today’s digital landscape, viruses remain a popular tool among cybercriminals. For instance, the Department of Justice recently issued a warning to consumers regarding a ransomware virus that has become more prevalent, the Journal Sentinel reported. Once a system has become infected by the program in question, the user will be faced with a message apparently sent by the agency accusing him or her of a crime and requesting a financial penalty be paid unless the person would rather face prosecution. The virus locks the infected machine, preventing victims from accessing any of the files stored on their hard drive.

Another recently identified computer virus takes on the visage of anti-virus security providers. According to cybersecurity researchers at Online Virus Repair, this particular virus strain has become extremely common and can easily evade even the strongest defenses. Even after removing these threats, consumers may find that the malicious code has wreaked havoc on their systems, corrupting files and folders as it spreads. Any device directly connected to a networked system will be susceptible to data corruption. One way that individuals can protect their important data and irreplaceable files is by deploying a disc-based data archiving solution. By backing up their files onto a Blu-ray media disc, consumers can be sure their unique files will remain intact even if their hard drive becomes corrupted.