7 Questions That Every Business Must Ask About Ransomware

Cybersecurity has become a major concern for businesses around the globe. Hackers are quick to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in even the most secure systems. News of data breaches frequently make headlines. The pace at which the cybersecurity landscape is expanding, makes it tough for businesses to keep pace.

Ransomware was considered the top cybersecurity threat a couple of years ago. Even though their frequency has decreased significantly, they have become more targeted and complex than ever before. In order to cope up with ransomware threats, you will have to develop a sound understanding.

In this article, you will learn about seven important questions that every business needs to ask about ransomware attacks.

1.    Is Ransomware Still a Big Threat For Businesses?

The number of attacks have declined, which is good news for businesses, but these attacks have become more targeted and sophisticated, which makes them even more dangerous than before. Ransomware does not affect small or mid-sized businesses anymore. Hackers are now using ransomware to target critical installations and infrastructure. From power plants to medical facilities and everything in between, ransomware is still a threat you cannot afford to ignore.

2.    How can I protect my business from Ransomware?

There are a number of ways to protect your business from ransomware attacks. Start off by developing a ransomware defense plan. There are four key elements of a ransomware defense plan.

• Backup
• Training
• Response
• Practice

Take regular backups, so that even if your data gets stolen due to ransomware attacks, you can easily restore it from backup. Also, businesses need to increase cybersecurity awareness among employees by organizing training sessions. Be prepared for the worst, and react quickly even if you come under a ransomware attack.

Make sure that your incident response team is ready with the solution when the disaster strikes. To ensure that all the processes and procedures work as planned, put them in practice before your business comes under a ransomware attack. This will give you a clear picture about how good your cybersecurity measures are at dealing with ransomware attacks. You don’t want your cyber security systems to fail when you come under an attack.

3.    Is It A Good Idea To Negotiate With a Ransomware Attacker?

Most businesses don’t take ransomware seriously and end up paying a hefty price for it. They think that they can pay the ransom and get their data back from cyber attackers. What they don’t realize is that even after paying the ransom, you are not guaranteed to get your data back. This is why it is important to protect against ransomware attacks. If you are not sure whether you will get your data back after paying the ransom, is it a good idea to negotiate with the hacker? It depends on a number of factors.

If the stolen files are not critical or you have a backup, there is no need for negotiation. On the contrary, if cyber criminals have managed to steal your sensitive business data, you don’t have any choice but to negotiate with hackers.

4.    How Can Active Ransomware Be Contained?

What if your business is under a ransomware attack right now? How can you react to minimize the damage? There are many vendors that can help you with that but you should have an effective incident response plan to cope up with ransomware threats internally. It is important to ensure that you eliminate the ransomware completely and plug in all the holes that hackers can exploit so that ransomware does not come back to haunt you again. There is no point in investing thousands of dollars in ransomware eradication if the ransomware will come back again.

5.    How Will Ransomware Evolve In The Future?

If you have been able to successfully protect your business from ransomware attacks, this does not mean that you will be able to do the same in future. Hackers are finding new ways to make ransomware more sophisticated and dangerous. Be prepared to see an increase of social engineering attacks to deliver ransomware. You might receive a targeted phishing email that contains a malicious link or attachment that tricks you into giving out your sensitive information by portraying it as a trusted source. The easiest way to protect against such attacks is to educate and train your employees. Organize mock incidents to gauge which employees are more vulnerable.

6.    How To Train Your Employees To Handle Ransomware Attacks?

If you want to train your employees on how to handle ransomware attacks, you should start from mock incidents. Simulated phishing training is a great starting point as well. After completing the training, make sure that you test the knowledge of your employees with an exam or test. Simply telling your employees not to click on malicious links sent to them via email doesn’t suffice. Make it easy and quick for employees to report any suspicious activity and ransomware attack so that the concerned department can fix things before it is too late.

7.    How To Create a Ransomware Defense Strategy?

Once your employees know what ransomware is, how it works, and how they can protect themselves from getting infected, you are in a good position to fend off ransomware attacks. Create a ransomware protection strategy that covers all bases. Identify ways to improve your strategy to protect against the latest attacks. You can test how good your ransomware strategy is by launching a mock ransomware attack. It will provide a clear picture about the strengths and weaknesses of your ransomware strategy.

Which questions do you have in your mind about ransomware? Feel free to share it with us in the comments section below.