Just as the computer has evolved over the years, so have the ways in which malicious people have tried to access and damage computer systems. These people of low standard want to benefit from piercing the protections surrounding a computer system so that they can find some kind of financial benefit. While there are multiple ways in which a person might try to use stolen data, one of the most popular with these criminals is ransomware. Ransomware is a specific form of malware which allows a hacker to get into a person or businesses’ files. From there, they encrypt them so that only the hackers have access. This can be devastating in certain circumstances. Consider a hospital which loses access to all of its patient records. When the hacker makes a monetary demand to allow the hospital to re-access the records, it’s tempting to give in and just pay. In order to avoid ransomware, the best thing to do is follow strong practices and have defense in place.
Methods For Preventing Ransomware
Ransomware can actually be defeated in a few different ways. There’s methods to defeat it by not getting it in the first place, and methods to defeat it once the malware has entered your computer system. Some of the best ways to prevent ransomware include:
- Have Data Backups - This is an incredibly important option. When ransomware strikes and data is encrypted, having a recent copy of the data available in an alternate location can render the ransomware attack completely ineffective. You may ask, “What happens if the data backup is caught up in the attack as well?”. This can be defeated as long as your backup data doesn’t have “write” access. Read-only data can’t be encrypted by malware. Backing up data will need to be done regularly to ensure that too much isn’t lost.
- Improving General Cyber Awareness - It almost seems trite at this point, but users need to smarten up. There are a number of established methods that malware can be added to a computer or network. Yet despite that, still there are millions of systems that become infected yearly. So as always, the basics of being safe online are crucial. Do not click on anything in an email or download attachments until you’ve thoroughly vetted it and ensured there’s nothing fishy. If it’s from an unknown source, don’t even vet it, move on. Don’t take shortcuts with unknown or unverified versions of software. If you’re connecting through a public wifi port, make sure you have protection like a VPN. These basics are repeated again and again and again to people, yet somehow they continue to work as people ignore the basics.
- Enhance Authentication Procedures - A lot of attackers using ransomware want to get access to a computer’s desktop by stealing credentials. That’s where additional authentication can help. Multi factor authentication is very useful for both individuals and businesses and is usually very simple to implement.
- Choose Ransomware Protection Software - This will be discussed further later. But there’s a lot of good software and service options that can help protect against ransomware.
Ransomware Software and Service Options
There’s a number of different software options out there to choose from. Some of the best ransomware fighting options include:
- Bitdefender Antivirus Plus - This is an excellent option and can protect from ransomware as well as additional malicious cyber attacks. It has a large number of features. The one downside is that the VPN it offers requires a subscription. On the plus side, it creates an isolated browser when you use online banking, keeping that especially safe from potential intruders.
- Acronis Cyber Protect - As mentioned before, data backup is one of the best ways to protect from ransomware. That’s what this option does. It lets you backup full drive disks. You can also back up locally, or to the cloud if you prefer. It’s an excellent option and can be layered with an anti-virus type software for even more protection.
- NeuShield Data Sentinel - This is a software which helps with multiple aspects of ransomware protection. This software accepts that sometimes a ransomware attack may succeed, but focuses on how it can revert the eruption actions. It does focus on high priority files, so sometimes less important files may be lost. It’s certainly annoying, but much better than the potential alternatives.
These are just a few of the options available. Whether you’re a home or business, it makes sense to ensure you’re protected from ransomware. Determining your options and choosing what makes sense for you is the best way to go about it.