How Do You Protect Your Data from Ransomware Attacks?

Cyber attacks are increasing but how do you protect your data from Ransomware attacks? Here are some easy practical steps to protect your business.

There has been an increase of 165% in Ransomware attacks compared to previous years.  Large companies and even three US hospitals were hit by Ransomware attacks. This has caused urgency for small- to midsized businesses (SMBs) to increase their IT security measures and protect their business.

What does Ransomware malware do?

It simply encrypts data and asks victims for a ransom fee to be delivered within a certain time frame or all data is lost forever. This is not a good situation from there are some steps you can take to protect your data from Ransomware attacks malware.

Here are some key considerations that should be taken by your IT department or IT consultants to address how do you protect your data from a Ransomware attacks.

1. No data backup, no protection. Very simple rule. If you have no data backup, you have no protection from Ransomware. By having a backup, your IT consultant will format your drive, reinstall the operating system and restore the backup data. Not ideal as there will be big amounts of down time.
2. No redundancy, no back plan. You should ensure you are using industry best practices when it comes to data backups. You need three types of data backups including real-time, daily incremental, and weekly incremental plus you should be storing data offsite.
3. Keep it isolated. Industry best practices are to isolate your backups. Backups drives should never be connected to a shared drive or mapped as Ransomware can get to them if there is a Ransomware attack during a data backup session. Take snapshots.
4. Automate patching. According to a recent US-CERT report, proactive patching can eliminate 85% of cyber-attacks including Ransomware. Cyber criminals always look for third-party plug-ins, apps and applications as these are easy targets. If you have unused applications, you should remove them from the system.
5. Education is bliss. Came in at number 5 but should be number 1. It is extremely important to keep your employees educated and up-to-date of the latest cyber threats. The more your employees know, the better the chance you will improve security and prevented a Ransomware attack.

These are five simple steps to take in on how do you protect your data from Ransomware attacks. There are plenty more IT security steps that can be taken such as centrally controlled and management anti-virus, business class firewall with active security suite as well as a proactive approach to network management and monitoring.

You should always consult with IT security experts to ensure you are taking every step necessary to protect your business, your data and your reputation.

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