When it comes to ransomware attacks, prevention is better than a cure. As such, there are some key steps you can take to prevent ransomware threat actors from compromising your environment:
1. Back up your data
One of the simplest ways to defend yourself against ransomware attacks is to back up your data. Regularly backing up your data means that if your files are encrypted, you have another copy you can use to stay in operation, while taking away leverage from the attacker.
Periodic backups, such as weekly or daily, can ensure that you have data to recover not just if you experience a cyberattack, but also if you encounter another unexpected event such as a natural disaster.
2. Secure backups
When backing up your data, you also want to take some steps to protect it so that it’s not easy for cybercriminals to discover. Storing backups in more than one location and keeping a backup stored off-site or off-line makes it much harder for threat actors to locate and destroy your backups.
Another approach is to use air-gapped backups, backups stored within a server that isn’t connected physically or wirelessly to other network devices. This means it can’t be hacked remotely.
3. Download software updates
Keeping apps and software up to date with the latest security and vulnerability patches will reduce the chance of any software-based vulnerabilities for attackers to exploit. After all, the WannaCry ransomware epidemic could have been prevented if users had simply kept their Microsoft devices up to date with the latest patches.
It’s a good idea to turn on automatic updates on devices and applications so that you don’t have to manually download them one at a time. If you’re using lots of different devices, you might want to consider using a patch management platform to automatically push updates to multiple devices at once.
4. Use a firewall
Using a firewall is a networking best practice that can prevent cybercriminals from connecting remotely to your network, inspect traffic for malicious content and block problematic IP addresses.
Next-generation firewalls (NGFW) also incorporate technologies like intrusion detection systems (IDS) and intrusion protection systems (IPS) to discover a wider range of malicious behaviors and threat signatures, and identify cyber attacks with much greater accuracy.
5. Segment your network
Network segmentation is a networking methodology where an administrator divides a network into several smaller segments, each of which is separated by a bridge, switch or router. This separation between each segment means that attackers who’ve entered your environment won’t be able to move laterally.
More specifically, if a hacker breaches a certain segment of the network, they will only be able to enter the systems within that segment and unable to traverse to the devices in another segment. This restricts the amount of data they have access to and the amount of disruption they can cause.
6. Don’t click on links or attachments in emails from unknown senders
Finally, given that phishing scams are a common entry point for threat actors, users can protect themselves by not clicking on any links or attachments in emails from unknown senders. This way, there’s less chance of an entity tricking them into downloading malware.
It’s also worth double-checking emails from trusted senders, verifying their email address and looking out for grammatical errors and high-pressure language, which could indicate a scam.