Malware and Ransomware

I just read a interesting article about Malware and Ransomware that was in a newsletter sent to me by Alberta based "Enviro-Shred", who look after certain elements of our document security here at the office.

They were discussing a series of attacks on Canadian companies, describing the circumstances and how they were dealt with, in  some cases involving payouts to cyber criminals.

There are plenty of examples of how this form of cyber crime occurs, but what's more important about the article were the suggestions on how to protect ones' self and ones' business from becoming a victim.

5 tips to protect you against ransomware attacks

1. Invest in a trusted security solution.
   The detection and removal of malware is essential not only to protect you, but also to prevent these threats from spreading further afield.
2. It is essential for companies to make regular backups of files.
   Not just backups in the cloud only, but physical backups stored outside your network, which are less likely to be reached. Automated online backups could be affected by cyberattack, as criminals have a stake in overwriting them or making them inaccessible.
3. Do not underestimate the usefulness of backup media that are not rewritable or reusable.
   
    If you can’t change what’s written there, criminals can’t either. Check if your backup works correctly and that your media (read-only, write off or write) are still readable (and that writable media are not always readable). And save your backups.
4. You should already have in place a process to activate in case of a cyberattack.
   Remember that apart from the direct impacts on your business, a security breach can affect your customers’ trust. the plan should include communication strategies, in addition to other measures you should put in place following an attack. Of course, since your backups protect your data against ransomware and other malware, they must be part of your disaster recovery plan.
5. Some people might decide to pay the ransom in the hope of recovering their data, even knowing that this encourages cybercrime.
   Before paying, however, check with your security software provider to see whether recovery might be possible without paying the ransom. You also need to know whether the payment of the ransom might actually allow recovery for a particular ransom variant, as this is not always the case.