For years, ransomware protection and removal has been a large cat-and-mouse game with internet security companies like Symantec, McAfee, and TrendMicro. Unfortunately, cryptolocker since 2014, has spread like the California wildfires and seems to resurface stronger each year.
Generally, ransomware will sneak into your computer as an email with a file attachment. If you open the file, it runs a command which pushes code and steals credentials, and/or locks your files.
How do you protect your business from Ransomware?
Total Networx takes a managed IT approach – or otherwise seen as a layered approach in order to protect at the different points of communication. Obviously, a keen eye of a trained staff is always good, but at the basic level, from a technology perspective, this is how you protect your business from ransomware:
- Professional-class external SPAM filtering generally can filter the basic viruses as attachments.
- A good firewall can track activity – and can stop the download of malicious files.
- Anti-virus and anti-malware are there to help stop the file from opening.
- A solid professional-class backup with enough retentions is paramount for recovery if it makes it through.
This is serious. Ransomware has cost the US economy more than 1 Billion dollars each year since 2016.
The rise of ransomware means the total cost of damages related to attacks using cryptographic file-locking software has continued to reach over $1 billion since 2017.
Hackerpocalypse: A Cybercrime Revelation, suggests that individuals and organizations who feel they have no choice but to pay a fee to unlock their files have led to the rise of ransomware. It notes how even the law itself isn’t exempt from becoming a victim, as even police departments have had to pay a ransom to unlock the encrypted files.
It is important to take every threat seriously and take Disaster Recovery and backup seriously. If you have any questions on disaster recovery, backup, or ransomware – contact us today for a free assessment.
