Studies show that the number of ransomware attacks is doubling each year and that the attackers are focused on corporations and businesses rather than individual consumers. Is your business ready?
How Ransomware Attacks Happen
To understand why ransomware attacks are so dangerous, you first need to know what they are. According to PC Services, “ransomware is a kind of malware that attempts to extort money from the infected user by locking the user out of individual files or his entire computer until payment is made.”
Imagine your organization’s files and systems held hostage by hackers. It’s a disaster scenario, but one that’s happened recently to organizations in Canada and across the globe as recently as May. Here in Ontario, Lakeridge Health, a hospital in Oshawa was one of the hundreds of victims of a global ransomware attack that “hit hospitals, companies and government offices in nearly 100 countries,” CTV News reported. “The wide-reaching online attacks, which held user’s’ computer files for ransom, affected hundreds of thousands of computers. It is believed to be the largest attack of its kind.”
Ransomware is particularly dangerous when it hits industries that perform essential services, like the healthcare, government and financial sectors but all industries should be prepared. PC Services found that “the services industry is the most targeted business sector, accounting for 38 percent of all ransomware attacks on companies; the manufacturing, public administration and finance, insurance and real estate sectors were also heavily targeted, making up 37 percent of attacks.” The lesson here is that no sector is immune from a ransomware attack.
Take Steps to Protect Your Business From Ransomware
No matter what sector you’re in there are some steps you can take to secure yourself from a ransomware attack:
- You’ll need a top notch IT team that’s able to keep your security software and operating systems up to date. An IT recruiter can help you assemble this team.
- Ensure your company implements all software updates (these often have patches that guard against newly identified security threats).
- Implement a strict email policy in which all individuals across your organization:
- Delete suspicious emails without opening them.
- Do not open attachments or links in suspicious emails.
- Do not enable macros in a suspicious email in order to view the email’s content.
- Increase protective measures during times when your company is most vulnerable to limit your exposure during an attack.
It’s important to note the times of greatest vulnerability for your industry, which often include:
- The end of fiscal quarters
- During critical shopping periods
- When IT systems are set to upgrade.
Ultimately, the key to protecting your company is having a knowledgeable IT team in place that has adequately identified your business’ level of threat and installed the necessary measures. Not sure where to find the right IT professionals? At Live Assets, we can help ensure you’ve got the first safeguard against a ransomware attack in place with a top notch IT team.