Now that you know what ransomware is and how malicious attackers will try to attack businesses, it becomes important to know the best forms of ransomware protection. While there are a few steps a business can take after a ransomware attack has happened, both small and large businesses will want to take all possible measures to prevent one from ever happening. If malicious actors get their hands on your data, then there is no way of knowing what exactly they will do with it, and clients may not feel as comfortable trusting you with sensitive data as before.
Improve Your Cybersecurity
Your company’s IT environment needs robust and comprehensive security solutions in place such as multifactor authentication and endpoint protection because these tools are designed to defend against the cyberattacks that lead to a ransomware infection. If a malicious actor can’t get their phishing email into your inbox or login to a compromised account because of your ransomware protection, then this prevents an attack from ever progressing to your data being held for ransom. Also, users on your network should keep their devices and software up to date with the most recent patches to remove old software vulnerabilities as an attack vector.
Stay Informed on Ransomware Protection
More often than not, a cyberattack will infect your network because of human error. Ransomware attacks rely on an employee falling for a phishing attack, so implementing high quality training and security awareness will help lower the chance of your employees clicking on a malicious link. It is crucial for ransomware protection that everyone with access to your network gets proper training because malicious actors will target employees you least expect if it allows them access to your network.
Staying on top of current cybersecurity news in your industry will also help you prepare for the new and novel attacks that businesses like yours are facing. Implementing this into security awareness training will help all team members keep a keen eye out for the latest tricks hackers are trying to use to launch ransomware attacks.
Backing Up Your Data
While the best way to defend against a ransomware attack is to make sure it never happens, sometimes a successful attack does slip through. Businesses should not pay the ransom demanded by the malicious actors, but there are steps your business can take to recover time and data. Company’s can make use of decryption tools sold by software companies that will circumvent needing the decryption key from malicious actors, but businesses should not rely on this for their ransomware protection.
You can back up business data regularly to the cloud and an external hard drive so that if an attack takes your network hostage, machines can be wiped clean and information reinstalled using the back up. Back ups must be secured and inaccessible from the business’ main network because ransomware attacks will look for data backups to access and encrypt those as well in order to limit a business’ ability to respond to the attack.
Summary
While you can backup data and wipe computers after a ransomware attack takes place, Robinett Consulting firmly believes the best form of ransomware protection is to prevent it from ever happening. Having the right security tools and services in place along with the right IT consulting advice can go a long way in helping your business not become a ransomware statistic, but staff training and security awareness are key factors in ransomware protection. If you think your business needs a better defense against ransomware attacks, then our team here at Robinett Consulting wants to get to know your business, so we can give you the tools and advice you need to operate safely.
