Here’s How You Prevent Ransomware Attacks

Is your business prepared to square off against ransomware? It can be scary to even imagine your business becoming the target of an attack that essentially takes your operations hostage. Are you going to let ransomware extort money, hold your data for ransom, and threaten your business’ future? The answer is no, and we’ll show you how you can not only prevent ransomware attacks, but respond appropriately in case you can’t completely prevent them.

Understanding Ransomware

Ransomware is a threat that encrypts your files, demanding a ransom in response for the decryption key.

In recent years, there’s been a trend where ransomware becomes even more dangerous through double and triple-extortion. Basically, if you don’t pay that ransom, the hacker will threaten to leak your data on the dark web. They could even plan further attacks through distributed denial of service, sell access to other threats, or contact third parties to directly attack your reputation.

Data encryption is only part of the problem; the more devastating side effects come after you’ve been hacked and have to respond to the attack.

What Precautions Should You Take?

Before we get to that, let’s talk about preventing ransomware attacks, because that’s literally the best solution to your ransomware worries (and cybersecurity issues in general).

Ransomware’s roots are deep, and if you let this threat plant itself on your network, it’s not going to be easy to pull up later. Implement comprehensive network security protections, sure, but you need to be ready for anything. Discuss with your team how they should respond to potential phishing attacks, i.e. what not to do and who to contact if they’re even unsure about the identity of an individual.

You should always have a tested backup ready to deploy, too, just in case you need it.

How Can You Respond to a Ransomware Attack?

If you’re ever hit by ransomware, you might have the gut reaction to pay up, but this isn’t a productive solution to the problem.

First, there’s no guarantee that a cybercriminal will even return your files to you. There’s no reason to trust the word of someone who is committing a wicked crime against your business. No, you should never pay the ransom, as this just proves that ransomware works and funds further attacks against businesses just like yours.

Instead, we recommend you contact your dedicated IT resource to facilitate a plan of action. Sometimes you can restore a backup, but oftentimes these attacks are so comprehensive and all-encompassing that even this isn’t going to be helpful.

Your business should be worried about ransomware, but the good news is that we can help your business prepare and protect itself from all kinds of threats—ransomware included. To learn more about the security solutions we offer, call Suffolk Computer Consultants at 631-905-9617.