5 Tips Against Ransomware

As the world’s largest network cybersecurity vendor, Check Point aims to encourage organizations to protect themselves agains ransomware more effectively. In this blog, we will share with you information to help you protect your organizations against ransomware.

As Bill Gates once said, “Without prevention, the cure is unsustainable.” This principle must be applied correctly across a wide range of topics, including cybersecurity.

In the last few years, we have heard news about cybersecurity attacks almost every week. This has evolved into a global trend of attacks on high-profile organizations, including hospitals and government agencies. But ransomware doesn’t just target high-profile organizations; companies and organizations of all sizes have quickly become victims of ransomware across the industry.

The first step in the fight against ransomware is to take precautions before you become a victim. The following practices can help you prevent ransomware attacks:

When data and files are backed up, it may be more convenient to use backups than to pay a ransom in the event of a ransomware attack. The cost of restoring from backup may be lower or more costly than the amount of ransom requested, so these factors should be considered in the decision-making process.

There is another important reason to have backups. Even if you pay the ransom, remember that the person you should trust could be a cybercriminal. Will they really provide the decryption key after you pay? You have paid, they have given you the decryption key, but you still cannot recover the files. Ransomware may have bugs or may not work in your environment. Ransomware is not commercial software that undergoes rigorous quality assurance testing, so it is unwise to trust the attacker and regular backups of important files are essential. If possible, encourage your employees to enable automatic backup features.

Kullanıcı eğitimi, zararlı yazılımlardan korunmada kritik bir unsurdur ve aynı prensip, ransomware için de geçerlidir. Dosyanın kaynağı, çalışanların dosyaları neden aldığı ve gönderene güvenip güvenmemesi gibi konularda bilinçlenmiş bir yaklaşım benimsemek, çalışanların dosya ve e-postaları açmadan önce kullanmaları gereken etkili araçlarla desteklenmelidir. Spamlar ve e-dolandırıcılık e-postaları, hala fidye yazılım kampanyalarında en yaygın kullanılan yöntemlerdir. Kullanıcı farkındalığı, saldırıların gerçekleşmesini engelleyebilir. Bu nedenle, kullanıcıları eğitmek için yeterli zaman ayrılmalı ve herhangi bir şüpheli durumu fark ettiklerinde derhal güvenlik ekiplerine bildirilmelidir.

To minimize the potential impact to the organization, users should only be allowed access to the information and resources necessary for their tasks. A ransomware attack on a single-user system can be difficult to execute, but the effects of an attack on a network can be significantly greater.

Up-to-date antivirus protections can protect an organization against known malware. However, signature-based protections alone are not enough to prevent traditional attacks.

Taking a multi-layered approach to security offers a significant opportunity to best fend off ransomware damage. Beyond the traditional signature-based protections of Antivirus and IPS, organizations need additional layers to block malware with unknown signatures. They should consider Check Point’s two core components, called Threat Extraction (file sanitization) and Threat Emulation (advanced sandboxing).

Used together, each element provides separate protection against unknown malware on the network and provides a comprehensive solution. There are several important preventive measures in the fight against ransomware. Data should be backed up regularly so that files are always available. Employees should be trained to recognize and prevent potential threats. Access to systems and files should be restricted so that employees can carry out their work effectively.

For more information and to improve your security measures now, visit Check Point.