What is Ransomware & How Can You Protect Yourself From It?

Ransomware is a class of malware that prevents you from accessing your systems or data and demands a sum of money to be paid in return for the decryption key. This has resulted in billions of dollars in losses with over 2 million incidents reported in 2019. These kinds of cyberattacks are getting more complex and are holding organizations hostage until they pay millions in ransom. Ransomware attacks have a new target every 14 seconds and have the ability to shutdown digital operations, steal information, and exploit businesses, essential services, and individuals. 


Below are precautions to protect you against the threat of ransomware:

• Update software and operating systems. Outdated applications and operating systems are the target of most attacks.
  
  
• Never click on links or open attachments in unsolicited emails.
  
  
• Backup data on a regular basis. Keep it on a separate device and store it offline.
  
  
• Restrict permissions to install and run software applications.
  
  
• Enable strong spam filters to prevent phishing emails from reaching you and authenticate inbound email to prevent email spoofing.
  
  
• Scan all incoming and outgoing emails to detect threats.
  
  
• Configure firewalls to block access to known malicious IP addresses.

For more information on Ransomware and how to defend against it please check out these articles: 

• Ransomeware explained: How it works and how to remove it
• Ransomeware Guidance and Resources