Businesses are increasingly being attacked by ransomware . Unfortunately, many times organizations are not prepared to receive them, and that is when the problems arise. Today in this article we are going to talk about ransomware security planning errors, which companies often fall into.
In case you don’t know, ransomware is a type of malware that can infect our computer, encrypt all the data on our computer, and then display a message demanding the payment of a ransom to restore operation. Its form of action is blocking the screen of a computer, or encrypting important files with a password . Good ransomware security planning can avoid great financial damage to that company. Now, we are going to explain what mistakes we should not make and offer you a series of tips.
What flaws in security planning
Most victims receive a warning of potential vulnerabilities and do not take appropriate action. So when they are attacked, they realize that they are not ready to bounce back when hit by such harmful and dangerous malware.
Inadequate prevention, and an ineffective response to ransomware attacks, are committed by organizations of all sizes. So, we can say that the ransomware security planning has failed. One of the reasons is when the risk is not presented in commercial terms . We have to ask the managers of these companies to provide adequate funding and acceptance of these prevention policies.
Also not sufficiently studying a suitable way to perform ransomware readiness tests . Last but not least, poor recovery planning from a ransomware threat can infect your backups . This last point is critical, we must store the backup copies with the 3-2-1 scheme, that is, make a total of 3 backup copies, in 2 physically different locations, and that 1 of them is offline so that they are not infect with ransomware.
Aspects to consider
No company is invulnerable to cyber attacks. Attacks take time, and more advanced intrusion detection coupled with increased network segmentation can make the job harder for hackers to overcome. If we want to justify the additional cost and stricter controls, we need to produce a business report that shows the risk , and also the quantifiable business impact it would have on the company. We must not forget when a ransomware attack is common .
So we could show company bosses the benefits of investing in improved security versus the cost of a security breach. In the event of one, you have to deal with downtime and loss of business reputation.
We must always be prepared for ransomware
This is where good business ransomware security planning comes in. One way to do this is by conducting penetration tests to validate the technology and security settings. You don’t have to stop at the penetration test, you have to look for a comprehensive response to incidents. In this sense, the coordination of security personnel is very important and that the available tools are fully used.
Good backup strategy
Standard daily backups to other servers, permanently attached external hard drives, or NAS servers specifically intended for such backups may not be sufficient. When a ransomware attack is received, in addition to affecting the primary data, it also seeks to infect those backup copies, so from that moment they are useless.
Therefore, a good ransomware security planning that avoids this would be working as follows:
- Creating several restore points so that by being in several places we do not lose so much data.
- Reducing the risk of infected backups using different storage media such as hard drives, NAS or tape, and placing them in unusual places.
- Choosing backup solutions that guarantee its inalterability . The problem you have is that they are expensive, and every business should consider whether it needs such high levels of protection.
Last conclusions
Ransomware attacks are becoming more sophisticated and complex, and basic security practices are insufficient to adequately protect us. Therefore, we need to produce a report that assesses the risk and business impact of our company. Then, we have to develop a security plan for the ransomware with its corresponding tests and have a backup system so that it does not affect them.
