Ransomware Prevention and Malware Attack Solutions
Safeguard your clients with a secret weapon in the war on cyber extortion. Avoid cyber extortion of your encrypted essential business data with Datto’s ransomware protection solutions.
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Ransomware Protection: How to Prevent Ransomware
What is Ransomware?
Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts or locks your files and demands payment to access them. Although there are multiple strains of ransomware, all fall under two main types: crypto-ransomware and locker ransomware.
Regardless of the strain, ransomware is a criminal money-making scheme that is triggered by tricking users into clicking on deceptive links using social engineering tactics or by exploiting system vulnerabilities.
Some strains go a step further and mark the files for permanent deletion. The perpetrators then demand ransom payments (usually in untraceable cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin) for the private key required to decrypt and access the files.
To prevent attacks like this, managed service providers (MSPs) should adopt a layered approach that includes employee education, IT security, and business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) technology to achieve the best possible cyber resilience for your business and their clients.
How Does Ransomware Work?
Ransomware can enter networks in various ways, but the most common tactic is social engineering, where hackers trick users into clicking links or opening files. Once the attack is triggered, the malware encrypts the data located on that system, making files inaccessible.
Other strains, such as WannaCry, work without any human interaction. This type of attack infects your system through vulnerabilities in browser plugins or unpatched software.
Once a business's files are encrypted, impacted parties must pay the hackers for decryption keys to unlock the files. However, there is no guarantee that paying for access will recover files, and it also doesn't prevent future attacks. Thankfully, BCDR technology allows you to quickly recover data and normal business operations without paying ransom.
If you’re a small or medium business looking for ways to protect your mission-critical data from ransomware, consider working with a managed service provider. They are experts in cyber resilience and are able to help form a business continuity and data recovery plan.
Who are Ransomware Attackers?
Ransomware attacks can be created and distributed by anyone, anytime, anywhere. Attacks can be extremely profitable, and would-be cybercriminals just need an internet connection to start.
Although these cyber attacks are illegal, the odds of getting caught are low as payment is typically bitcoin. Bitcoin is an anonymous cyber currency that is extremely hard to trace.
Some forms of Ransomware do not even require coding knowledge. These are known as Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) strains. These are created by hackers to take a portion of the ransom as a service fee and make it very easy for users to share the malicious software.
In 2016, a criminal organisation infected around 150,000 victims in 201 countries. They split the profits 40% to malware authors and 60% to those who discover new targets.
Could my business be a Ransomware victim?
Cyber attackers do not discriminate – they cast a wide net and will go after anyone. Historically, they have targeted small and medium businesses (SMBs) with a modest budget.
If data is important to your business, you are a target.
A Tip for Managed Service Providers
If you provide an IT service to SMBs, adopt solutions and work with vendors you trust and are proactive in the fight against ransomware. Datto provides them with solutions to help you provide a robust solution for your clients.
A Tip for IT Users
As a business owner or an end user, you have more important jobs to do than manage your own IT systems. The world of IT and the threats businesses face are also always changing.
This is where managed service providers come in. They work with SMBs to ensure their systems are functional and provide a security strategy for your business.
How to Defend Against Ransomware?
To protect your business against ransomware, you must employ cybersecurity best practices, which includes the use of multiple defense-in-depth security solutions and adherence to cybersecurity frameworks.
The best way to defend against ransomware attacks is to utilize a multi-pronged approach that includes:
- Datto EDR for endpoint detection and response
- Ransomware Detection, which stops known and unknown forms of ransomware from executing and spreading throughout your network
- Ransomware Rollback, an easy and elegant way to revert encrypted files back to their original state
- Managed SOC, powered by RocketCyber, which gives you 24/7 managed detection and response for endpoint, network and cloud threat vectors
How to Remove Ransomware?
Removing ransomware is complex, and in some cases, it can be impossible. Although hackers say they will send you the decryption key when you pay the ransom, there are no guarantees.
The only way to take control is to ensure that you're able to recover from an attack without being held to ransom. The best way to do this is to take a multi-layered approach to ensure cyber resilience that includes employee education, IT security, and business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) technology.
Layers of Protection from Ransomware
When it comes to protecting business data from ransomware attacks, there is no single solution that can fully protect you. It’s vital to take a multi-layered strategy to improve cyber resilience.
Cybersecurity Training
Cybersecurity programs teach users about the dangers of social engineering and phishing emails and outline sound security practices about email attachments, malicious links, and more.
Ransomware Detection & Planning
Businesses always need to plan for the worst to happen, to do this they need to have and regularly test disaster recovery plans (DR plans). This will ensure that they know what to do in a disaster and how to return to operation. Ensure that you are using tools to detect attacks across your networks to ensure a rapid response and minimal spread.
Ransomware Prevention
There are two major parts here, Antivirus software and system patching. If a malicious link or attachment is accessed, the antivirus will try to detect the ransomware to avert an infection . However, new strains are being created faster than antivirus can protect against them, so some strains do succeed. Additionally, patching software vulnerabilities helps to prevent cyber attackers from accessing systems.
Ransomware Recovery
The last line of defense is having a reliable and regularly tested backup of your systems. A data protection solution such as Datto SIRIS provides the ultimate failsafe in a layered defense strategy, taking backups of data and systems and storing them in a Datto’s private cloud. If you fall victim to an attack, you can simply recover your systems back to before the attack happened.
Testimonials on Datto's Ransomware Protection
“When a client was infected with ransomware that encrypted and locked their files, there was no need to panic. Without Datto, the amount of data loss and downtime in cases like this would be cripling.”