Ransomware is Still a Major Threat for All Businesses and Individuals Alike

You don’t need us to tell you that ransomware is a problem (or maybe you do–we mean, it’s a huge problem). It’s dangerous to both businesses and individuals, and it has become such a common threat that all organizations need to have a plan in place to address it with their staff. Today, we want to highlight a three-part strategy that you can use to approach ransomware in the most secure way possible.

Prioritize Your Backups

We recommend that you make data backup a top priority for your business in just about all situations possible. Good backups keep your data safe in an isolated environment where they can be accessed as needed. We recommend you use the cloud, offline backups, or off-site data centers for your storage needs. You can also use automation to ensure that the process is as consistent and reliable as possible; however, you still want to test your backups to guarantee they work when you need them most.

Train Your Employees

Your employees also need to know how to protect your business from ransomware, especially when it spreads through phishing emails and social engineering attacks that specifically target your team to circumvent your security measures. Help your team understand what a suspicious email, link, and attachment looks like, and provide them with ways to check for legitimacy on any potentially problematic messages.

Protecting your business begins with building and fostering a culture of cybersecurity awareness, so make sure that you are routinely testing your team to ensure they keep this knowledge close at hand.

Implement Powerful Security Solutions

Your security solutions should be comprehensive enough to include antivirus and anti-malware tools to detect and block ransomware threats. Additionally, these tools need to be updated periodically so that they can protect against emerging and evolving threats, because make no mistake, as your security level increases, so too will the craftiness and persistence of ransomware threats.

Of particular note is the firewall; a firewall can monitor and control incoming and outgoing network traffic, effectively preventing unauthorized access and the spread of malware. Again, you’ll need to ensure that your software remains up-to-date, including operating systems and applications, with security patches. If you keep your systems updated, they’ll be able to stand up to the latest threats better.

You can never let up on your cybersecurity measures, as the continuous evolution of these threats will ensure you stay busy protecting your business. Hackers that use Ransomware are crafty and take on many forms, so it’s important to do everything you can to dodge them outright.

Do you have concerns about protecting your business? Directive can help. To learn more, call us today at 607.433.2200.