For a few years, the menace of ransomware has become a ‘cyber-pandemic’ that shows no signs of diminishing anytime soon. Therefore, it has become necessary to keep your ransomware protection and recovery capabilities updated. Any vulnerability in your network or systems means you have an opened door from where a bad actor can enter. And once he enters into your system, you will not only have to bear ransom loss but losses downtime too (that are even higher). Furthermore, because of ransomware attacks, sometimes you will lose a potential customer. So, having invincible enterprise security and ransomware recovery strategy in place can only save you against the attack.
If you look at the recent reports regarding cybercrimes, you will be shocked to learn how rapidly these attacks are growing. They have crippled many high-profile companies all over the globe. This is the reason why investing in advanced security is now considered to be the best investment. This blog will walk you through tips to make ironclad enterprise security around your systems.
The Growing Threat of Ransomware:
From a business perspective, protection against ransomware has never been more important as attacks are increasing exponentially. Multiple research studies show that more than 50% of all organizations were hit by ransomware attacks in 2020. And according to Gartner1, by 2025, ransomware attacks are expected to rise by 700% and this means at least 75% of IT organizations will face one or more attacks.
Besides frequency, the costs of ransomware attacks are also increasing. A Forrester2 study found that only 25% of organizations could recover between 75% and 100% of their data after a ransomware attack. And IBM3 calculated that the average cost of a ransomware attack has now reached $4.4 million (USD) and that doesn’t include the intangible costs of losing customers and partners’ confidence.
X Ways to Fortify Your Enterprise Security and Ensure Ransomware Recovery:
The security of your data and network is integral to your data recovery capabilities. Following are the tips that you can follow to ensure an advanced security firewall around your systems and network.
Keep Multiple Backups of Your Data:
Although most organizations already keep backups, yet to increase the importance of this proven rule we are enlisting it as the first tip. Furthermore, making copies of your files (or keeping backups) is not enough. You have to keep them secure too. And the best practice in this regard is to keep your backups offline or offsite. This way, they will be out of the reach of the attackers because they are not connected to your online network.
Encrypt Your Data in Motion and at Rest:
When you encrypt your data and backup files, you are adding another layer of abstraction and security around your systems. Furthermore, when you are sharing your data through on an online channel, your data is at risk. And, to reduce this risk of data theft, it is better to encrypt it before transmitting it over the internet.
Limit Access to the Backup Software and Repositories:
Limiting access to the backup console and repositories has always been the best ransomware protection practice. To accomplish this, you should consider creating more than one backup admin role and assigning non-overlapping privileges and responsibilities to each role. For instance, you could assign backup job creation, retention policies, and reporting to different admins.
Educating Your Employees:
As one of the widely used ransomware tactics is email phishing, which starts when a user opens a provocative email. These emails usually contain infected links or attachments and as soon as the user opens that link or downloads this attachment, the process of ransomware begins. So, educating employees about never to open unauthorized emails or download attachments will at least save your organization from attack. Furthermore, they should also be educated on the latest techniques and trends that operators are using to hijack organizations. Also, they should be guided on how they can save their organization from such kind of attacks.
Hiring Data Protection Services:
There are security measures that you yourself can take for your organization with the help of your team. And there are some security measures that only experts can take on your behalf. Therefore, hiring their services is very important to create a strong shield around your data. Furthermore, if somehow, ransomware enters your system, data protection services will save you from irreparable loss. Also, they will be very helpful in the process of ransomware recovery. You yourself can’t remove a virus but they have the expertise to identify and eliminate any virus that enters your systems.
