Ransomware Preparedness
Ransomware is a type of malware that prevents users from accessing their data until they pay a ransom. Most ransomware viruses are triggered by clicking a link in an email or opening an attachment. When combined with phishing techniques, these emails may seem like normal correspondence from a business partner.
How to Prepare for a Ransomware Attack It’s important to warn employees about clicking on suspicious attachments, but they may fail to adhere to the policy or simply be fooled by a well-targeted phishing attack. Additionally, while firewall protection and security software are crucial components in a ransomware-prevention strategy, they won’t guarantee protection. When prevention methods fail, the best way to regain access to your data is by having a backup plan in place.
This is where the frequency of your backups becomes a key component of your recovery strategy. The more frequently you back up, the more recent your recovery point can be. Having automatic, continuous backups also ensures data protection with minimal human intervention. Depending on the nature of your business, it may be worth the peace of mind and risk reduction to have more frequent, continuous backups.
An added benefit of using a backup plan as part of a prevention strategy is that it also protects you from other common causes of data loss, such as server or disk failure, natural disasters and human error.
While any data recovery effort costs time and resources, paying a ransom might be an even bigger risk since it doesn’t necessarily guarantee you’ll get your data back. You’re essentially counting on the trustworthiness of thieves to give you the encryption key after they’ve taken your money. With a complete backup of your data that includes an earlier version of your system before it became infected, you stand a very good chance of recovering most of your data without ever having to pay a ransom.
Tech9labs’s approach provides “ground truth” on an organization’s current cybersecurity posture (current state), and where the organization should be based on its threat profile (target state). A threat profile is established by examining an organization’s operations, industry vertical, technology profile, and likely adversaries. From that analysis, we provide a comprehensive set of actionable recommendations to move the organization forward in the short, medium, and long term.