Ransomware is on the rise. How can IT support departments and business owners prevent a ransomware attack and potentially save the business?
Did you know?
- 54% of organisations in the UK have been targeted by ransomware attacks (Osterman Research, June 2016).
- 20% of these cases were so violent that business stopped immediately.
- The most targeted industries were the healthcare and finance sectors.
- 39% of organisations hit by ransomware said it came through an email.
- Cyber criminals target employees because they are considered the weakest link.
What you can do to prevent an attack
- DO NOT OPEN unsolicited email attachments or links. Ransomware is often embedded in documents.
- Educate your employees – provide them with clear instructions (see our checklist here) on what to do if they encounter a potential ransomware lure
- Maintain clear inventories of your company’s digital assets and their locations, so cyber criminals do not attack a system you are unaware of.
What Conosco can do
- We recommend the use of an email gateway such as Mimecast to filter out potential threats before they even get to your mail system.
- We implement web-filtering to control the sites users can access and block connections to malicious hosts.
- We keep all your software up to date, including operating systems and applications.
- We run secure, frequent backups of your information so that it can be restored if encrypted.
- We monitor the antivirus solution on your machine daily, ensuring:
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- it is installed and active
- virus definitions are up to date
If you need help to prevent a ransomware attack, or with any other aspects of your IT security, the experts at Conosco are on hand to help. Book a free consultation here.