Can You Prevent Ransomware Attacks on Your Enterprise?
Ransomware attacks are a growing threat to both individuals and companies. If you have a company, chances are that you’re going to deal with ransomware at some point. However, not everyone knows how to handle ransomware, and hackers prey on that uncertainty to get even more money out of you. Here are a few steps your business needs to take for true ransomware readiness.
1. Learn About Ransomware
First, you need to understand a bit more about ransomware. Typically, ransomware attacks lock up a computer or even a network, then demand a ransom to release the files. There are other ransomware methods, but this is definitely the most common. More advanced ransomware attacks can spread through a network, locking down multiple computers and keeping your business from working for days or weeks.
2. Understand That You Should Expect Ransomware Attacks
At this point, ransomware has become so widespread that it’s generally accepted that any fairly large business should expect ransomware at some point. People have become able to launch ransomware attacks with little to no understanding of coding, and they’ve been doing so. That means you need to have a process for managing the ransomware when it happens.
3. Know How to Deal With Ransomware
How can you deal with ransomware? Typically, your options are either to pay the ransom, try to remove the ransomware, or wipe your system completely and restore it from an earlier backup. The first option can be legally dubious and the second sometimes isn’t even possible, leaving your best option to be having a system in place that backs up your data regularly.
4. Keep Your Employees Up to Date With Security Features
There are many possible options when it comes to how ransomware infects a computer, but it’s most common for a person to accidentally introduce the malware to a system. Security checks, including information about how to avoid accidentally downloading malware, can be a crucial part of keeping your business safe from both ransomware and other malware.
5. Have Regular Comprehensive and Isolated Backups
The best way to avoid issues with ransomware is to have isolated, comprehensive backups that you update regularly. Ransomware can only harm what it can reach, and it can’t reach backups that are isolated from the rest of your computer network. A tool like an Object Lock backup, which allows systems to read data but not write it, can make sure that a ransomware attack doesn’t lock down your backup as well.
Conclusion
From small businesses to large franchises, everyone is potentially vulnerable to ransomware. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’re doing – ransomware is so easily accessible nowadays that many people eventually have to deal with it. However, if you’re prepared, it’s very likely that you’ll be able to recover from it fairly easily. Don’t get caught off guard – prepare yourself and your business so that your enterprise is able to bounce back unharmed from whatever malware attack it’s dealing with.
