Business has evolved a great deal in just the last couple of years. Employees are getting more digital and more flexible; companies are getting more agile about the ways they manage people and data. Change is all around us. But there’s one thing that hasn’t changed at all – and that’s the need for security fortification. If anything, it’s only become more pressing.
According to Fast Company, ransomware is poised to be an especially concerning area of cybersecurity throughout 2022, as threats continue to mutate and grow over time. Approximately 50% of all businesses are being deceived by an attack involving malicious links or attachments right now, as we speak; not only that, but about 50% of all attacks involve ransomware demands of $50,000 or more. Clearly, the threat is a big one.
And the scary thing is, most organizations don’t even realize they’re under attack until it’s too late.
“In most cases, ransomware isn’t the beginning of a compromise,” said Kelvin Murray, senior threat research analyst at OpenText. “It’s actually the end state where the criminals cash in after an extended period. By the time you realize you’ve got ransomware on your network, the criminals may have been in there watching, listening, and tampering with things for weeks or months without your knowledge.”
Given this, there’s no doubt that organizations need to be proactive, building up their “ransomware resilience” well in advance of any potential attack.
So let’s get into it. Here are a few key strategies that can be effective.
Educate yourself
The single best thing anyone can do for ransomware resiliency is be smart. If you’re aware of what ransomware attacks look like and how to avoid them, this can go a long way. The best organizations have comprehensive ransomware education, up and down the org chart.
Avoid human error
This is the logical next step. If you know the basics of ransomware, you know how to avoid making silly mistakes that can lead to trouble. Most ransomware attacks begin with a human error – for example, opening a dangerous email attachment or clicking on a bad link. Eliminating these mistakes is key.
Allocate resources effectively
Especially if you’re running a smaller organization, you probably don’t have a ton of resources to devote to ransomware security. People, time, and money are surely all at a premium. Therefore, the key is to be economical with what you have, squeezing the most value out of your limited security budget that you can.
Plan for disaster recovery
What will you do if an attack does hit your business? The best response is a proactive one. Don’t just react to threats after it’s already too late – have a plan in place well in advance, so you’re ready to remediate attacks and recover any lost data quickly. The health of your business may depend on it.
Flesh out your strategy
A proactive plan for ransomware isn’t just about securing your network and your endpoints. You can also conduct regular security awareness training, fortify your data backups, run disaster recovery drills to plan for security failures, and more. The more depth and breadth you can bring to your ransomware strategy, the better.
And if you need a little help with protecting your business, that’s where Zones can play a key role. We’ve always placed a premium on Security Fortification with our clients, and that’s only becoming more true in 2022. We offer a number of security solutions to help our clients bolster their defenses – including Security Assessments, Endpoint Security, Authentication & Data Security, and many others.
To find out how our Security Fortification solutions can make a difference for you, just reach out. We would love to hear from you.
Zones : Jun 3, 2022 12:00:00 PM
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