Why You Need to Protect Your Business from Ransomware Attacks

Types of Malware That Can infect Your Computer

One of the worst nightmares a company can experience is being taken hostage by a computer virus or group of hackers and having to pay a hefty price to secure your data again. And unfortunately, it’s not just businesses that become victims of computer viruses – ordinary people also have their data stolen through these nasty attacks. However, if you’re an organization in need of computer security, you are probably already aware of the risks. Still, the threats keep coming up. Why is this?

Well, let’s put it in perspective. Imagine yourself in a situation where your confidential information has just been compromised by well-crafted malware. And even worse is the fact that reported ransomware attacks have actually increased over the past few years as the result of a major pandemic. Now, to be clear, legitimate security measures will always attempt to prevent and minimize the risk of such attacks, but the reality is that the threats have become so severe that businesses should be prepared to face the worst, should they choose to be prepared at all.

Malware Threats

So how do businesses protect themselves from these malware threats? There are many things they can do, but the most important is prevention. As the recent threat actor Want to Cry has shown, there is no getting around Wannabe encryption – if your network is ever compromised, the malware can read and wreak havoc on your network. However, businesses must take the initiative and protect themselves by running a backup solution in place before the encrypted files are encrypted.

IT Professionals and Department

This may seem obvious to many IT professionals, but it is often overlooked by businesses. Often, the IT department is the first point of contact for customers who have lost data or need their networks secured. While the IT team has experience handling this, many smaller businesses do not. As a result, they may lack the expertise or skills to quickly identify and repair the damage done by attackers using malware to attack their servers. In short, small businesses need to consider using a backup solution before the attackers infiltrate their systems and make life extremely difficult for their customers.

Secure Your Data

As a general rule, IT professionals should not trust anyone who offers to help them protect their systems against Ransomware unless they can speak to the person on the phone about the risks. Since most IT people rarely have this kind of experience, many offer free tutorials and claim that they can stop Ransomware attacks by implementing the most effective anti-malware on their operating systems. However, these claims are often misleading due to several reasons. First, because no operating system is 100% secure, no anti-malware program is either.

Cryptocurrency malware

In addition, businesses must consider the fact that the creators and developers of Cryptocurrency malware are skilled in coding their programs in such a way that they leave no visible trace of the software inside the computer. This allows the hackers to use the Cryptocurrency malware to monitor any changes in the computers that Cryptocurrency has infected. The reason that the hackers leave no trace of their software is so that if an employee of the company prints out a file that had sensitive information in it, the hacker could use the encryption technology that makes use of Cryptocurrency to extract the key needed to decrypt the file. Therefore, businesses should consider installing an off-the-shelf software program that will ensure that they are never attacked with Cryptocurrency in the workplace.

Prevention Methods

While businesses should never take chances when it comes to the safety of their data, some organizations take it too lightly when it comes to prevention. Unfortunately, some IT employees do not realize the importance of running anti-malware programs on their workstations. For this reason, they may download malware onto their computers and then perform random actions that prevent the business from accessing the Internet or other networks on their computers. In short, some businesses do not take the issue of prevention very seriously, which allows attackers to gain access to networks and data. Thus, businesses need to make sure that they implement anti-malware programs on their workstations and they also update the existing applications to ensure that they are not targets for the various forms of Malware that are being distributed across the Internet by hackers.

Cryptocurrency attacks

One of the most common features that hackers rely upon when carrying out Cryptocurrency attacks is the usage of fake emails. These fake emails often contain attachment files that download various Virus signatures that are associated with legitimate software applications. However, the programmers behind these applications never include a signature that will stop the virus, thus allowing it to install itself on the computers that the programmers have designed. Since these programs often install the virus as a Trojan, many people refer to these attachments as “Ransomware” or “ware.” As you can see, while legitimate security software is designed to protect against malware like Cryptocurrency, it is often unable to defend against the various forms of Malware that are being used by the hackers.

Protect Your Business from Ransomware Attacks

As the owner or manager of a business, you naturally want to ensure that everything runs smoothly and that there are no major issues and problems that arise. Modern technology has made it much easier for you to achieve this business goal, as you can improve efficiency, speed, and overall operations with the use of modern tech. However, you also have to consider the downside of technology, one of which is the heightened risk of cybercrime such as ransomware attacks.

The ransomware economy is made up of a range of different components, and it is crucial that you ensure your business is protected against this type of digital crime. There are lots of players who come together to make up the ransomware economy, and because these cybercriminals are often so savvy and use such sophisticated methods, it puts your business at huge risk. Protecting yourself against these attacks is, therefore, crucial. In this article, we will look at why you need to ensure there is protection in place.

Some of the Key Reasons to Ensure Protective Measures Are Taken

As many business owners know from experience, these types of attacks can cause utter devastation and could even spell the end for a business. This is why protective measures are so vital. Some of the reasons you need to ensure protection is in place include:

Keeping Your Business Operational

One of the key reasons to ensure protective measures are put into place is to keep your business operational. For many businesses, digital files and data lie at the core of the business, and without access to these everything grinds to a halt. It is important to have measures in place to ensure you do not lose access to these vital files and data, and to keep the business operational. If you lose your data and files as a result of these attacks, there is no guarantee you will regain access even if you do pay the ransom.

Avoiding a Huge Payout

Another reason you need to ensure you have protective measures in place is to protect the finances of your business. When you receive a huge ransom demand, it can put huge financial pressure on your and your business, and if you are not in a position to pay it, you could find that your business can no longer operate. Even if you are in a position to pay it, there is no guarantee that you will regain access to your files as mentioned earlier.

Avoiding Data Protection

When these cybercriminals get a hold of your files and data, there are many things that they can do. They could simply hold the files to ransom and then decrypt them when you pay the money, or they could delete files and cause devastation for your business. Another thing that they could do is to circulate the information, and this could pose data protection issues among other things.

These are some of the many reasons why it is so important to have protective measures in place.