10 best practices to combat a ransomware threat

Imagine someone breaks into your house, finds your jewelry, locks it in an inaccessible chest in the middle of your house and then leaves with the key after placing a ransom note. If you contact the thief and pay the ransom note, he will give you the key to open the chest and get your jewelry. Otherwise, good luck cracking the chest. You know all your valuables are in there, but you simply can’t use it. Ransomware acts similarly, except it chases after your files and data.

Ransomware is a form of malware that encrypts a victim’s files. The attacker then demands a ransom from the victim to restore access to the data upon payment. Finally, they are shown instructions on how to pay a fee to obtain the decryption key. Costs can range from a few hundred euros to thousands in Bitcoin.

Let’s learn 10 best practices to prevent it:

1) Use anti-malware software or other security policies to block the launch of known payloads.

2) Perform frequent and complete backups of all important files and isolate them from local and open networks.

3) Immutable backup options, such as Object Lock, offer users a way to maintain backups with airspace. Data is fixed, unchangeable and cannot be deleted within the time frame set by the end user. With immutability set on critical data, you can quickly restore uninfected data from your immutable backups, deploy it and get back to business without interruption.

4) Maintain offline backups of data stored in inaccessible locations from any potentially infected device, such as disconnected external storage drives or the cloud, which prevents ransomware from accessing it.

5) Install the latest security updates for your operating system and applications.

6) Consider implementing security software to protect endpoints, email servers and network systems from infection.

7) Practice cyber hygiene, e.g., be careful when opening links and email attachments.

8) Segment your networks to keep critical devices isolated.

About redborder

redborder offers an active cybersecurity architecture and traffic analysis with Big Data and Open Source technologies that protects companies’ information stored on the network, as well as the most complete and intuitive security management system.