The threat of ransomware attacks has exponentially increased in recent years. These frequent attacks on companies have proved that no company, big or small, is safe from them.
Every company needs to take safety measures to prevent these attacks and keep their business safe.
Six Key Steps to Prevent Ransomware Attacks and Safeguard Assets
Here are six steps you can take to keep your business safe from ransomware attacks.
1. Educating Employees About the Risks and Precautions They Can Take
Ransomware is often deployed by sending malicious links or attachments to employees. These links when opened or downloaded deploy the ransomware into the system. The easiest and most important way to prevent this type of attack is to make employees aware of it.
You can conduct cybersecurity training programs where employees can be trained on how to keep safe from cyber-attacks.
These awareness programs mostly teach the employees simple actions they can take to stay protected like using strong passwords, not opening any suspicious links or attachments and verifying email senders.
2. Performing Regular Backups of Critical Data
The motive of most ransomware attackers is to gain access to a company’s critical data and ask for ransom in exchange for it. Keeping updated backups can help you have access to your data even in case of a ransomware attack.
If ransomware encrypts the data, having backups can help you restore access without needing to meet the attacker’s demand.
It is best to store backups offline where they cannot be accessed through the network.
3. Not Depending Only on Backups
While having a backup can still give you access to your data, the risk is still there. You’re still vulnerable as the attackers also have access to the same data and can blackmail you further and demand a ransom to not leak your critical data.
Make sure you’re not only depending on backups for your safety and use cybersecurity tools.
4. Using Advanced Protection Technologies
Ransomware attacks can mostly be detected by basic anti malware defenses but it doesn’t eliminate the risk. Attackers are evolving every day and target zero-days. To stay completely protected, you can use advanced technologies like zero-trust security and network access, sandboxing, deception technology, endpoint detection and response and behavior analysis technologies.
5. Maintaining a Defense-in-Depth Security Program
Maintain a defense-in-depth security program with strong anti malware along with other processes and technologies like web and email security filtering, endpoint scanning and filtering, network traffic analysis, allowlisting/denylisting, intrusion detection systems and firewalls.
Certain antimalware tools also offer specialized anti-ransomware features.
6. Patching Regularly
Installing patches for system vulnerabilities regularly can save a lot of stress. You can follow a patch management program to ensure that any vulnerabilities in the systems are patched quickly, thereby minimizing the risks of zero-day ransomware attacks.
Summing Up
Businesses should follow ransomware protection practices and keep their employees aware of the risks and management. These threats, however dangerous, are not very difficult to prevent.
