9 Ways to Keep Your System Safe Against the Ransomware Attack

9 Measures to Keep Your System Safe from Ransomware Attack

All businesses, including big and small, are vulnerable to a ransomware attack. It is a type of malicious software that attacks the business's computer system and blocks all the data until the victim pays a ransom. There are several ways to protect your system from this harmful cyberattack. Here is a list of some measures, including getting the right cyber insurance that you should consider-

1. Maintain Data Back-ups Separately

   Creating data backups can be one of the best defence-mechanism against ransomware attacks. Restoring backup data is the most reliable and affordable source for any organisation.

   However, this plan only works if you maintain the backups in a separate system, hard drive or a cloud. Remember, while creating backups, make sure the data is inaccessible through your systems. Moreover, a ransomware virus is designed to detect the backup files from your system and infect them. It is advised to keep your backups isolated from the business network.

2. Tighten the Security of Your Accounts

   Enhancing the account security can prevent an intruder from attacking. You can start this by using strong passwords and enabling two-factor authentication to access the system.

   However, using passwords is not enough to enhance the security, a two-factor authentication can help you to block unwanted spammer and targeted attacks. All these activities help you in improving employees' experience and enhancing the security.

3. Improvise Your Protection Controls

   Try to prioritise the basic security tools, processes, and practices that help to prevent harmful attacks like ransomware. Here are a few ways you can level up your protection in your system-

   1. Emails- Usually, the hackers try to start their master plan through emails. With the help of phishing protection capabilities and advanced protection, you can reduce the probability of the attack through emails.
   2. Endpoint- A hacker tries to access an endpoint to accomplish their goal. By installing Next-generation Anti-virus (NGAV), you can provide extensive coverage to endpoint security.
   3. Active Directory- A hacker tries to access more networks and information of an organisation. Tightening the security of your AD can disable their chances of hack.
   4. Network- With the rise of remote working culture during this COVID-19 era, there are increased chances of attack on company’s network. Therefore, companies should focus on enhancing their network security. However, if you ask your employees to work from offices, getting a mandatory firewall and network associated protection enabled in their systems can be helpful.

4. Train Your Employees

   A hacker looks for the easiest route to attack the system. Therefore, employees are considered to be one of the convenient ways. They can attack a company's employees through techniques like- social engineering, phishing, and brute force attacks.

   Here are some helpful tips:

   • As a responsible employer, you should organise security awareness training (SAT) and enhance the security model
   • Moreover, you should conduct mandatory stimulation and security tests for employees
   • Try to incorporate sessions on awareness of ransomware attacks. Additionally, inform your employees not to click on broken links or open the links from outside the organisation
   • Try to spot the spoof emails or web pages
   • Avoid downloading malicious links
   • In case, if you find a spam email, report or escalates the threat to the IT department of your organisation.

5. Purchase a Cyber Insurance Policy

   Another way to completely protect your organisation's data against a ransomware attack is by buying a cyber-insurance policy. It gives your organisation extensive financial coverage by building a strong security model to protect you from the damages caused by ransomware virus attacks.

   Having a cyber-insurance policy can help to minimise damage caused to the business during a cyber-incident and its after-effects. Additionally, it covers the financial expenditure to deal with the cyberattack and recover from it.

6. Disable Macros Inside Files

   Disabling macros as a default is the best way to protect your system from the attack of malicious software. Generally, hacker ties to enter malicious code in the macros inside files, like excel sheets. Therefore, you should disable it in the default setting and prevent your system from a cybersecurity attack.

7. Update Your Security Management System

   Hackers try to enter the organisation through vulnerable software. So, you need to update your security management system timely.

   You can keep your security tools and applications in auto-updating mode and maintain a weekly patch management schedule to update your software manually.

   Avoid delaying the software updates notification as it will hamper your system's security.

8. Restrict Sensitive Files and Programs

   Try to limit your users' access by restricting sensitive programs and files. You can do this with group policy object restrictions and whitelisting. In whitelisting, you can specify certain employees to access files or programs running on your network.

9. Enable 24x7 Security Monitoring

   In case, your system gets attacked by a hacker, how actively you respond to it will decide the extent of the damage to your data. If you have detected a ransomware attack quickly, you may get the backup easily from an uninfected device or source and prevent its effect.

   Some common tools like event management, monitoring tools, and endpoint detection & response can help you to detect the attack and take a step to reduce the damage. Therefore, it is required to enable the 24x7 security in your system and actively respond to any threat.

Conclusion

An organisation should focus actively to identify, respond, and recover from the damages against ransomware attacks. Try to incorporate the above-mentioned preventive measures into your organisation and prevent yourself from becoming a victim of a ransomware attack.