Services: Ransomware Protection

Ransomware.

If that word doesn’t concern you, it probably should. Ransomware is a new player in the game of cyber-attacks, and the power it wields is scary.

When activated, ransomware encrypts your files and holds them hostage until you pay a ransom fee, which can be anything from hundreds to thousands of dollars. The worst part? Even if you pay the fee, you may not get your data back. There really is no honour amongst thieves.

Believe it or not, the costliest part of ransomware is not the ransom itself, but rather the cost of downtime incurred.

Downtime is ultimately the biggest threat, particularly to small and medium-sized businesses.

In Sophos Lab’s 2018 Malware Forecast, they indicate that the threat of ransomware will only continue to grow as attacks get more sophisticated and the number of attackers increases. Ransomware-As-A-Service now enables anyone to buy the software to create their own ransomware code. Unfortunately, ransomware is a profitable and growing business, so increases in attack severity and frequency are only projected to increase.

How can you protect yourself?

As any IT provider worth their salt will tell you, buying and installing one product is never the answer. Or at least, it’s never a GOOD answer. Good IT security involves having multiple, overlapping layers of protection so that should any one layer fail, you have others to fall back on. A multi-layered approach is the future of IT security.

At Netcetera, we’ve narrowed down our use of products to ones we feel are at the forefront of the industry. We only sell products that we ourselves use and are familiar with. By using more than one product and structuring your security strategically, we’re able to provide you with comprehensive protection so you don’t have to worry about threats like ransomware.
Do you use these strategies to keep your business safe? If not, you should be. Talk to us today and we can show you how to keep yourself safe during the ransomware epidemic.

Resources

Datto State of the Channel Ransomware Report 2016

State of the Channel Ransomware Report 2017

SophosLabs 2018 Malware Forecast – In this report, we review malicious activity SophosLabs analyzed and protected customers against in 2017 and use the findings to predict what might happen in 2018.

With survey findings gathered from 1,100 Managed Service Providers (MSPs) in the US, Canada, Australia, the UK and around the world, Datto’s report provides unique visibility into the current state of ransomware from the perspective of the Channel and the small businesses who are dealing with these malware infections on a daily basis. The report provides a wealth of detail into ransomware, including its frequency, the most common strains, the industries and systems most targeted, the impact, and the strategies and critical business solutions necessary to ensure recovery and continuity in the face of the growing threat.