3 Tips for Avoiding Ransomware

Ransomware is a lucrative business, generating over $25 million in two years for hackers. This comes at a tremendous cost for companies, who dish out an average $133,000 for each ransomware attack. Unfortunately, ransomware isn’t dying down. It’s estimated that a new organization will fall victim to malware every 11 seconds by 2021, compared to 14 seconds in 2019.

But that doesn’t mean you should throw your computers out the window. Following a few simple protocols can save you from losing money and sensitive data.

Educate Employees

One of the main ways ransomware invades your enterprise is through unsuspecting employees who inadvertently click on the wrong files or attachments. To prevent one click from costing your company over $100,000, you must educate your business on cyberattacks.

It’s hard for employees to be on the alert for ransomware if they don’t even know what it is, so start with a basic definition. Ransomware is malicious software that locks users out of their computer by encrypting files. The user is often given a deadline for paying the hacker in exchange for restoring the files. If this deadline isn’t met, everything will be stolen from your computer, and even if the fee is paid, hackers might not fulfill their part of the deal.

After everyone understands what ransomware can do, you can get into some tips and methods for safeguarding your software. Attacks usually occur when someone opens a file or clicks on a link sent to their email that contains a virus. Sometimes these emails are designed to look like they come from a colleague, business partner, client or family member. However, there will usually be something in the email to tip you off. For example, many of these messages include undisclosed recipients or an unfamiliar sender address. A good rule of thumb is to be wary of attachments from strangers or any account that seems suspicious.

Everyone in your business should also know who to contact whenever they believe they have received malware or they’ve accidentally opened an infected attachment. That way, your company can resolve issues quickly.  

Keep Software Up to Date

As software ages, you lose the security and support necessary to ward off hackers. Legacy software can’t keep up with new viruses and malware, increasing your risk for cyberattacks. Therefore, regularly updating your technology is an essential task for protecting your data and your IT investment. Though updates and upgrades are often thought of as a tedious, unnecessary project, each new version of your software comes with patches designed to buttress security.

Keeping your software up to date also helps you receive full vendor support. Most vendors don’t provide support for systems that haven’t been upgraded in a couple years. That means when your platform is attacked, you’ll have to go elsewhere for support, and finding someone who specializes in your system becomes harder as it grows older. If you’re currently operating on an outdated solution, get in touch with a consulting firm or reseller now to get on a recent version before you become the victim of ransomware.

Invest in Backup and Disaster Recovery

Once your software is infected with ransomware, it’s hard to get your data back. 34% of businesses that experience malware don’t regain access to their data for at least a week. In most cases, paying the ransom doesn’t result in your information getting restored. Even after you’ve removed your ransomware, there’s a strong chance that the encrypted data gets destroyed.

Strong backup and disaster recovery planning is the only way to truly protect your software. By regularly backing up your data, you can restore data just as it appeared moments before the attack. Cloud platforms automatically back up your files, but you shouldn’t just be relying on that. It’s important to keep multiple copies of your data on both physical and virtual servers to ensure you’re fully protected from malware.

As you can imagine, implementing and maintaining backups while also detecting ransomware aren’t easy feats. Investing in a full backup and disaster recovery solution can protect your software from cyberattacks without hassle. EverSafe! backs up data in two bi-coastal servers that can be delivered overnight in the event of a disaster. Additionally, it provides immediate notifications when ransomware is detected. With EverSafe!, malware is removed and your data is fully restored in no time, helping you get back up and running rapidly.

Wrap Up

No business wants to think about ransomware, but without a solid strategy and solution in place, your data could be held hostage.

At Datix, we want all our clients to operate software securely. EverSafe! is an all-in-one backup and disaster recovery solution designed to deliver reliable business continuity. Think of EverSafe! as insurance for your software. With intelligent ransomware protection and remediation, screenshot verification of backups, instant virtualization and more in a single solution, you can minimize downtime and cybersecurity risks.

Don’t let anything come between you and your enterprise data. To learn more about EverSafe!, get in touch with Datix today.

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