We currently live in a society where technology permeates every aspect of our life. For the most part, this means we are able to do a lot of tasks a lot faster and easier than in past. We can communicate, collaborate and even entertain ourselves in ways that would seem like magic not too long ago. Part and parcel of the new benefits we gain is the fact that we also have to now deal with new problems.
What is Ransomware?
One of the biggest challenges we face, especially with businesses, is keeping your infrastructure safe and secure. Cybersecurity is a huge industry that encompasses many types of digital threats in the form of viruses and malware- specialised software created and deployed by people for nefarious reasons like damaging or disabling computers and computer systems.
An especially prevalent and threatening type of malware is ransomware. Malware can be deployed or installed for the purpose of creating chaos or spying; ransomware goes a step further and holds the victim’s data hostage under threat of either destroying it, encrypting it, locking it or revealing it to others if the data is of a sensitive nature. The attackers will then go on to demand a ransom (hence the name) for the release of the data.
Is Basic Backup Protocol Effective?
For non-sensitive data, a common IT strategy is to have regular backups of your data so that in the case of ransomware (or other forms of data corruption or inaccessibility), you can always restore the data and carry on with a minimum of data loss. Backing up files is often seen as critical to restoring lost data.
This practice, which is still a prudent habit, is now becoming less effective due to the changing nature of ransomware. A new variant of ransomware now also targets backups, often corrupting that data first if it has access to it, in order to prevent the restoration of data. Obviously, this means that your backup which was supposed to act as a safety net is now useless.
What can you do?
Firstly, it is very important that you integrate offline and non-local backup. Backup on the same machine might make restoring easier and faster but it is as vulnerable as normal data in this case. A good counter to this using the 3-2-1 method of backup.
This rule for backups state you need at least 3 copies; in 2 different formats; with at least 1 of those copies off-site. The off-site aspect is of especial importance since this copy will be safe due to being isolated. This ensures that in the case of an event like a break in or fire, your data is safe in some form, somewhere else. This all points to once concept, really. Redundancy. By storing in multiple ways you are reducing the risks of total data loss.
In addition to backing up your data more aggressively, you also need to regularly update anti malware software so it keeps up to date with emerging threats. This needs to be coupled with the most important practice; education and training. Your employees need to know basic cybersecurity measures such as never opening a suspicious attachment.
With these things in mind you can drastically reduce the risk of losing your data or having to pay a hefty sum of money to get it back. A company that practices good cybersecurity habits is a company that will be spending less fixing damage caused by cybersecurity threats.
