Ransomware is running rampant. It’s been a successful money-maker, bringing in millions of dollars for state-sponsored hacking groups and large criminal underground organizations. Even smaller criminals have gotten in on the act trying their luck at several thousands of dollars from a hit on a small business.
In 2020, ransomware attacks grew 485% and there’s no end in sight. In fact, hackers are branching out and offering Ransomware as a Service (RaaS), which allows novice criminals to subscribe to a pre-packaged attack.
Of all the types of malware, ransomware is one of the most damaging and costly for businesses. It effectively shuts down most companies, because they can no longer access any data. This includes being locked out of things like customer databases, invoicing systems, patient records, cloud storage accounts, and other vital business systems.
The best line of defense is to take a three-pronged approach with your cybersecurity strategy that involves:
- Prevent
- Protect
- Recover
Do not be one of those businesses that negotiate with their attackers. Far too many companies pay the ransom, which further fuels more attacks and higher ransom demands.
Between the first half of 2020 and the first half of 2021, the average ransomware ransom demand increased by nearly 3x from $450,000 to $1.2 million.
If you properly prepare your business, then you can avoid having to consider paying the ransom and keep ransomware from devastating your Fair Haven company.
Use This 3-Prong Strategy To Keep Ransomware at Bay
Prevent
Prevent is about putting up a strong barrier to stop ransomware attacks in their tracks. This involves robust network and endpoint security designed to identify attacks immediately and shut them down before malicious code can be injected into your network.
Preventing attacks involves continuous monitoring of your network to proactively hunt for threats, like unauthorized login attempts to your server or cloud accounts.
Some of the tactics to deploy that help prevent an attacker from breaching your digital territory include:
- Next-Gen Firewall: This type of firewall actively monitors for threats and can immediately quarantine any suspicious code.
- Managed Antivirus/Anti-Malware: Managed antivirus ensures that any suspicious activity is dealt with immediately, so all potential threats are kept from harming your systems.
- Endpoint Device Monitoring: Computers and mobile devices are endpoints that can introduce ransomware into your network. It’s important to keep these devices monitored and secured to prevent intrusions.
Protect
Where the prevent stage is about proactively guarding your network and endpoints to shut down potential ransomware attacks before they happen, protect is about safeguarding accounts and data.
Your protect strategy is akin to putting an additional security blanket around your assets to keep them safeguarded even if malicious code makes it into the outer ring of your business network.
Some of the tactics that are important for protection include:
- Managed Data Backup: If you have a recent copy of all your data, then you’ve got the thing that a ransomware attacker is trying to leverage against you. It’s important to use a reliable backup system and have it managed to ensure backups are going smoothly.
- Password Protection/MFA: Another form of protection is the use of multi-factor authentication (MFA) and other password security best practices. Using these safeguards helps stop the spread of ransomware into cloud assets.
- Patch & Update Management: Ransomware and other types of malware code often take advantage of unpatched system vulnerabilities. If those vulnerabilities are patched regularly, then you greatly reduce the effectiveness of a ransomware attack.
Recover
Should your company become the victim of ransomware, you can reduce the damage and costs by being ready for a rapid recovery. This involves a combination of human preparedness and digital resilience.
To recover quickly from a ransomware attack, you need to have a practiced incident response plan in place as well as the systems that can get you back up and running quickly, without needing to pay the ransom.
Too many companies end up paying their attackers a ransom even though they have a data backup because they’ve never practiced data recovery. They’re unsure how long it will take and opt to pay the ransom thinking it will be faster.
For your recovery strategy, you should have the following:
- Fast Data Recovery: You want to ensure that the backup solution you use includes a fast data recovery mechanism. Not all backup systems are the same, so check with Two River Computer to make sure you’re covered.
- Incident Response Plan: What is the first step your team should take if ransomware is detected? You need to put that along with the entire response plan down on paper and have it thoroughly planned out.
- Employee Training & Drills: Employees should have the opportunity to do regular incident response drills, including full data recovery. This hones their skills and helps them achieve a fast response and recovery if needed.
Put a Strong Ransomware Prevention & Response Plan in Place Today!
Don’t wait until an attack happens to prepare your company. Two River Computer can help your Fair Haven business with a Prevent-Protect-Recover strategy that keeps you safeguarded from a devastating loss.
Contact us today for a free consultation. Call 732-747-0020 or reach us online.