Simple Measures to Combat Ransomware

By CIOReview | Wednesday, February 21, 2018

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As more and more businesses integrate their virtual infrastructure on the cloud as well as use data extensively to make business decisions, cybersecurity has become a growing concern necessitating stringent measures. In the recent years, the surge in breaches and cyber attacks has caused billions of dollars being spent on protective and remediation efforts. FBI recently concluded that the global damage of Business Email Compromise has crossed $5.3 billion dollars.

While the world is moving towards being a cashless society, malware such as WannaCry, Petya, Cryptowall, and Bad Rabbit ransomware seem to question the logical evolution have become a fixture for an army of cybersecurity professionals to safeguard against these crippling attacks.

Moreover, cryptocurrency has made it easier to maintain the anonymity during and after transaction thus it has created a major shift in the financial market as well as has rejuvenated the creativity of malware innovations. Often organizations targeted with ransomware are instructed to pay through bitcoin and even though Online Trust Alliance (OTA) encourages the owners of the affected system to maintain a cryptocurrency wallet for dire cases, security experts advise against it.

But the silver lining is that studies by OTA suggest that 9 out of 10 breaches are easily avoidable. Users can update their systems regularly with patches to prevent their systems from being vulnerable to the affected exploits. Experts also suggest effective measures such as regular backing up of data, use of appropriate access controls, anti-virus software installation, and business continuity planning to build resilience and protection in the event of a ransomware attack.