Surviving Ransomware: 7 Key Strategies

Surviving a ransomware attack can be a daunting task, especially when everything you own is at stake. In such situations, you need to have a solid defense plan that seeks to mitigate the attack’s impact while reducing the chances of acquiring the malware. We’ve put together this comprehensive guide covering seven key strategies to help improve your chances of surviving a ransomware attack.

Backup Everything Regularly

Every organization should have good policies for data backup and recovery to survive a ransomware attack. You need to ensure that all essential data is backed up at regular intervals on non-networked devices as threat actors usually search and encrypt all logical drives. Also, you need to test your backup and restore procedures consistently.

Find ways to Isolate Your Networks

Ransomware loves to spread through networks targeting vulnerable devices connected to the same network. Therefore, if your organization is planning to harden your system defenses, you have to make sure your network architecture includes segmenting your most valuable assets. Isolated network segments should strictly have a few essential authorized members of your firm to help avoid horizontal movement.

Create A Ransomware Incident Management Plan

Upon discovering a ransomware attack in progress, it’s crucial to have a response plan set in place to contain, investigate, and remove as soon as possible, the current ransomware. It’s also vital to identify the variant of the malware used because, without this knowledge, other vital networks and assets may remain infected.

Train Your Teams

All effective cybersecurity strategies must come with a well-trained end-user community, ensuring they have the technical capabilities and knowledge to keep their networks from attacks. When educating your employees, make sure you explain the importance of incorporating security best practices into work routines and being security conscious consistently. Education sessions for users should meet their specific protocols and possible threat scenarios.

Implement Key Controls

Controls, worked into Information system security specifications or put in place manually, such as endpoint security solutions or updating the system(s), mitigates successful ransomware attacks depending on your enterprise’s technology capability. Consistent compartmentalization processes, running a zero trust network policy prompts constant system scanning and reduces vulnerabilities significantly. Nonetheless, it’s essential to work with security professionals together to identify and tailor suitable controls.

Adopt A Defense-In-Depth Approach

The defense-in-depth strategy employs the utilization of multiple defense mechanisms to safeguard devices, particularly endpoints, including antivirus software, next-generation firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, and employee controls. Adopting a defensive barrier at no endpoint device, particularly where access endpoints onto the firm’s network occurs, dramatically reduces the spread of the infection.

Prioritize Communication before and after an incident

Always provide constant communication and guidance to policy-makers and involved individuals who work with your firm’s cybersecurity shield against any threat. Such a communicative habit will cover current attack trends, threat methods used in existing ransomware examples and expected future updates, any research your firm may have discovered, and possible responses to preventative measures.

Conclusion

Deadly ransomware attacks continually evolve into more complex concepts as years go by, threatening anyone from personal computer users to networks controlling hospital Intensive Care units. Protecting from IT-related security compromises has always been complex as users and network domain authority changes, but the initiative to secure rests with everyone. If our team remembers how a spam email constitutes an initial for running a ransomware exploit or incomplete virus definition, more people can have the benefit of adopting more effective ways of countering malware vectors.