Ransomware attacks are on the rise. Here’s how to protect your business.
We recently wrote about the ransomware attack that happened to the City of Ellensburg in December of 2020. (https://rhynonetworks.com/ransomware-cyberattack-close-to-home)
The City of Ellensburg was also the victim of an attack in August of 2019, where they were sent a realistic looking email from a scammer posing as one of their vendors. The scammer requested the payment of an invoice in the form of a bank transfer. Unfortunately, the city employee believed the request to be valid and paid the scammer via wire transfer. The city lost $185,000 in that attack.
With scammers becoming more and more sophisticated in their attacks, the prospect of protecting your business from an unseen attacker may feel overwhelming or even impossible, especially when even a government organization is susceptible.
Don’t give up hope. There are some basic steps that you can take in order to protect your business from cyberattackers.
The first step to protecting your business is to keep your data safe and secure.
One of the best ways to keep your data safe and secure is to store backups of your data in a secure offsite location. If you do not already have offsite data backup, this is one of many services that RHYNO Networks provides.
With your data pushed offsite, even if your network becomes compromised and the files are encrypted due to ransomware, your server and files can be restored up to the point where the encryption first took place.
The second step to protecting your business is ensuring that your security software is up to date.
We suggest that our clients use a sophisticated anti-malware program such as SentinelOne, which is an exceptional brand that RHYNO Networks is partnered with.
If you’re currently a client of RHYNO Networks receiving security services, we ensure that your security software is up to date for you.
If you’re not currently a client, you’ll need to regularly check with your anti-malware vendor to ensure that you’re receiving regular updates, as security threats change often.
The third step to protect your business from ransomware is the proper training of your employees.
With so many employees working from home, it’s especially important for them to be adequately trained regarding safe communication procedures.
Ensuring that your employees are trained on the proper procedures laid out by your business regarding cybersecurity, social engineering, and password guidelines will help to safeguard your business and create a safer environment for your employees.
As each business is unique, it’s important to communicate this training to your employees in a format that fits the culture of your organization.
Regularly updating your training to industry standards and ensuring that employees are fully trained will go a long way to protecting your business from cybercriminals.
As always, if we can be of help with your network or computer, give us a call here at RHYNO Networks. (855) 749-6648