Five Things You Can Do Now to Avoid Ransomware

Ransomware is the smash-and-grab of cyber attacks.

The popularity of ransomware among cyber thieves continues to grow, not just in America but around the globe. Ransomware victims paid over a billion dollars in 2016 for decryption keys in the hopes that their data would be unlocked. Sometimes it was, sometimes it wasn't.

These were businesses of all sizes, but small and mid-sized businesses were hit the hardest.

Yes, it is possible to avoid ransomware.

At ControlScan, we frequently talk about "defense in depth" and the layering of security technologies. Here are five things you can do now to create defense in depth and avoid ransomware.

1. Educate your employees continuously using a comprehensive security awareness training program;

2. Make sure you are regularly backing up your important data and applications, with periodic copies offsite;

3. Implement—then continuously monitor and adjust— firewall technologies that protect against employees visiting suspicious websites;

4. Take advantage of today’s advanced endpoint protection technologies to holistically protect your organization from malicious email and attachments; and

5. Cap off your defenses with technology that will proactively detect ransomware and other forms of advanced security threats, based on behavior or heuristics.

While ransomware is the big news today, it’s not the only security threat your business should be concerned about. The challenge is developing a path forward that allows you to avoid ransomware now, but also allows you to efficiently integrate additional security technology solutions in the future.

Advanced endpoint technology is key to meeting this challenge. Learn more about this technology by watching the free webinar replay, “Beyond Antivirus: How Advanced Endpoint Security Can Save You From Ransomware.”