How to protect your organization from ransomware?
Ryuk, SamSam, WannaCry, Petya, TeslaCrypt, CryptoLocker, PC Cyborg have dominated the cyber threat landscape for quite some time. These ransomware attacks have caused sleepless nights to many IT companies, both big and small, who had to shell out millions of dollars to the cyber criminals to get things back in order. According to the annual report on global cyber security published recently, Statista claims that “There were a total of 304 million ransomware attacks worldwide in 2020. This was a 62 percent increase from a year prior, and the second highest figure since 2016.” As for country wise percentage of ransomware attack Canada holds the fourth position next to USA, UK, and Australia according to some research reports. But before we delve more about the different means to cybersecure Canada, it is important to know ransomware inside out.
What is ransomware and what makes it so dangerous?
Ransomware is malware or extortion software that uses encryption to lock computer, entire operating system or individual files. As you are unable to access the critical data, you are forced to pay the ransom amount to the criminals. On receiving the amount, the criminals would provide decryption details to unlock the device or files. The fact that it is difficult to see through deception makes ransomware truly dangerous.
What is the modus operandi of ransomware?
Ransomware infects a device or computer in several ways:
· Phishing: When you click a link or download an attachment from a malicious email
· Drive-by-download: When you visit an infected website and the malware gets downloaded and installed without your knowledge
· Social media: If you click a link spread through social media or other instant messaging applications that harbor ransomware
· Web Servers: If your web server is vulnerable then it would be used as an entry point
How to protect your organization from ransomware?
There are many cybersecurity consulting firms in Canada and therefore the best way to maximize protection from ransomware is to get in touch with one of the top cybersecurity companies in Canada. For instance, if your office is in Toronto, then select a cyber security company in Toronto, which has immense experience in providing professional cybersecurity consulting services in Toronto. The cybersecurity expert can guide you in adopting a layered approach to ensure the best possible cybersecurity in Toronto or for that matter any other Canadian state. Let’s look at the 4 important measures employed by them to ensure cybersecurity.
· Cybersecurity Risk Assessment
This helps you understand the risks to your critical assets that can adversely affect your business functions and processes. They help you mitigate these risks by enforcing security controls for each risk and prevent threats and vulnerabilities through different tools and processes.
· Cyber Security Risk Governance
It means taking essential steps to change the approach of your entire organization towards cybersecurity. Instead of considering cybersecurity as the responsibility of the IT team, every employee should understand the implications of various cyber risks and play their part in mitigating cyber-attacks. This involves formulation of frameworks and programs, which every employee must abide by.
· SOC Audit
Today the cloud has become ubiquitous for new digital services. And on top of that we rely on service providers to streamline the day to day operations. In such a scenario, inherent risk is bound to increase. The best means to assure clients and stakeholders is by undergoing System and Organization Controls (SOC) audit, where a third party auditor thoroughly examines your organization to ensure that there are effective controls in place to prevent potential risks.
· PCI Audit
If you manage cardholder data, then your organization must undergo Payment Card Industry (PCI) audit. This includes 400 individual controls to ensure that the internal operations are in compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) set up by various credit card companies.
As per the Ransomware victimization rate among businesses worldwide 2018–2021 report of Statista, “In 2021, 68.5 percent of businesses were victimized by ransomware. This was an increase from the previous three years and the highest figure reported so far.” So the situation is very alarming and it calls for partnership with a highly experienced and efficient cyber security consulting service provider. This helps in implementing an effective cybersecurity roadmap that includes data backup, software updates, multi-factor authentication, email security, anti-ransomware solutions and more.