Essential Lessons on Data Protection From The 49ers Ransomware Attack
Digital data occupies the center stage in driving business and economic growth thanks to advancements in technology. However, the rise in ransomware attacks in the recent past has put various enterprises and corporations vulnerable to losing crucial data.
The vulnerability to these cyberattacks has been further exacerbated by the new normal of working from home and distance learning. This has made ransomware attacks one of the multi-billion dollar organized crimes in the US and globally. The NFL’s 49ers are the latest victims of ransomware attacks which they suffered on February 13, 2022. This article briefly highlights the importance of ransomware protection, strategies, and best practices.
Why is Ransomware Protection Important?
As mentioned, digital data and applications are the drivers of business and economic growth in the world currently. Ransomware attacks are a threat to the usefulness of data, and as such, businesses need to protect their digital workloads from cybercriminals, Data protection offers posterity and unprecedented growth for businesses and organizations globally. The following are benefits that a business gets from ransomware protection:
- Business Continuity. A ransomware strategy helps an organization or business limit the prospects of an extended business disruption or downtime. It further prevents the success of the attacks and narrows down the window for recovery.
- Data Protection. Ransomware protection helps an organization preserve the integrity and credibility of its data. It also provides copies of the lost data, meaning you can track your business data and recover from the attack quickly.
- Risk mitigation. Ransom protection strategies help a business or organization prevent the prospect of being attacked by cybercriminals. This is because user access controls and detection of anomalies help prevent any attack.
- Lower Cost. The cost for installing ransomware protection tools is lower than the total cost incurred after a ransomware attack on an organization. That is why your business needs to take a proactive approach in its data protection to help it avoid losing millions of dollars.
What are the Best Practices for Ransomware Protection?
Organizations need to do a variety of practices regularly to ensure that their data is protected and safe from ransomware attacks. Some of the best practices of ransomware protection are:
- Back up files regularly. Diligent and frequent backup processes of data limit the prospect of a ransomware attack and the damage it can cause.
- A complete update of the operating system and software. Software updates are often vulnerable to ransomware attacks if not done in time.
- Be cautious. Never click on email attachments from unknown sources as ransom attackers may have sent them.
- Prevent unauthorized access to your organization’s computers. This helps prevent criminals from remotely controlling your files.
- Deploy software security packages like firewall or antivirus to help block unknown sites that may have popped up.
What are the Ransomware Protection Strategies?
Ransomware protection can only succeed if elaborate plans and strategies are put in place. The following are strategies that organizations can adopt for their ransom protection:
- Create a plan. This involves developing a blueprint for quick and reliable business resumption in case of an attack and prevention of a possible attack.
- Take proactive steps. Take control of user access and authentication in your organization.
- Constant monitoring of your environment. This helps in the timely detection of anomalies in your data protection strategies and possible attacks on your organization.
- Educate your employees. To ensure that your business adopts a proactive approach to ransomware attacks, you need to teach your staff the importance of data protection.
- Test your plan. It is essential to test the plan you have developed to ensure feasibility for your high-priority data.
Final Thoughts
Ransomware protection is crucial to businesses as it enhances their growth and posterity. Developing good ransomware protection strategies is not an option but a must. Therefore, for more information on the importance of ransomware protection and cyber solutions available to you, Contact Us Today!
