If you were still in the dark about the threat that ransomware presents to your business, you won’t be any more. Recent high profile attacks on the NHS, along with thousands of other victims throughout the world, have put into stark relief the damage that ransomware attacks can cause.
If your business gets hit by a ransomware attack, you risk suffering significant operational, financial, and reputational damage. Whatever industry you operate in, this is bad news. Fortunately, implementing ransomware best practices will significantly reduce the level of risk to your business.
Here are four key ransomware best practice tips that will help you to protect your business.
Ransomware Best Practices
When it comes to ransomware, prevention is always better than cure. By implementing best practice steps you can make it far less likely for a ransomware attack on your business to cause significant damage: –
- User education. Your first line of defence against ransomware is always your users. Many ransomware attacks are distributed via phishing emails designed to mimic legitimate messages. Ensure that your users are aware of the threats posed by phishing emails, compromised websites, and illegal free downloads. If they stay aware and alert, and notify your IT or security teams of any suspicious activity, your risk of infection will reduce significantly.
- Backup policies. If the worst happens and you become infected with ransomware, what’s your next step? Isolate and remove the infection, of course, but then how do you recover your encrypted files? Implementing an effective backup policy is essential. Fortunately, services such as AssureStor’s backup2cloud platform allow you to perform granular file recovery quickly and easily, minimising downtime and data loss.
- Robust system security. Effective cybersecurity requires a combination of people, processes, and systems. Ensure that you have endpoint antivirus, email filtering, and web filtering in place, along with effective perimeter firewalls. It’s also critical that your security patching stays up to date; the recent ransomware attack that affected the NHS exploited vulnerabilities in out-of-date and unpatched Microsoft systems.
- Threat intelligence and anti-ransomware. Threat intelligence and anti-ransomware technology protect your infrastructure from ransomware attack. They proactively investigate data that flows throughout your infrastructure and tries to enter at the perimeter, and block any suspicious activity. If your business is serious about avoiding ransomware attacks, you may wish to consider investing in this technology.
Staying safe from ransomware attacks is a constant game of cat and mouse between cybercriminals and businesses. The best way to protect yourself is by implementing and following ransomware best practices. These steps may be the difference between staying safe and suffering serious losses.
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