What is ransomware and how to prevent it? – Forbes Advisor

When it comes to ransomware attacks, prevention is better than cure. Therefore, 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 easiest ways to defend yourself against ransomware attacks is to back up your data. Backing up your data regularly means that when your files are encrypted, you have another copy that you can use to keep things running while removing leverage from the attacker.

Regular backups, such as weekly or daily, can ensure that you can recover data not only in the event of a cyberattack, but also in the event of another unexpected event such as a natural disaster.

2. Secure backups

When you back up your data, you should also take some steps to protect it so that it is not easily discovered by cybercriminals. Storing backups in more than one location and keeping a backup offsite or offline makes it much more difficult for threat actors to find and destroy your backups.

Another approach is to use air-gapped backups, which are backups stored on a server that is not physically or wirelessly connected to other network devices. This means it cannot be hacked remotely.

3. Download software updates

Keeping apps and software up to date with the latest security and vulnerability patches reduces the likelihood that attackers will exploit software-based vulnerabilities. Finally, 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 enable automatic updates for devices and applications so you don’t have to manually download them one by one. If you use many different devices, 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 remotely connecting to your network, inspect traffic for malicious content, and block problematic IP addresses.

Next-generation firewalls (NGFW) also integrate technologies such as Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) and Intrusion Protection Systems (IPS) to detect a broader range of malicious behaviors and threat signatures and identify cyberattacks with much greater accuracy.

5. Segment your network

Network segmentation is a networking method in which an administrator divides a network into several smaller segments, each separated by a bridge, switch, or router. This separation between each segment means that attackers who have penetrated your environment cannot move laterally.

More specifically, if a hacker penetrates a specific segment of the network, he can only penetrate the systems within that segment and cannot get to the devices in another segment. This limits the amount of data they have access to and the level of disruption they can cause.

6. Do not click on links or attachments in emails from unknown senders

Finally, because phishing scams are a common entry point for threat actors, users can protect themselves by not clicking on links or attachments in emails from unknown senders. This way, a company is less likely to trick 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 exaggerated wording that could indicate fraud.