Malware can be defined as software or any malicious file designed to infect systems and cause damage to them, usually with the aim of profiting from the damage. There is also a type of attack (malware) called ransomware, which encrypts the data on the victim’s PC or system and usually demands money in exchange for the return of the data.
If you or your company doesn’t have a well-prepared anti-ransomware methodology, an attack of this type can escalate to disastrous proportions, such as a breach or failure in the system, and even preventing the company from continuing to operate in the long term.
In this article we’ll talk about what ransomware attacks are, their objectives and the main points to follow when creating efficient strategies to protect against and prevent this type of attack.
What is Ransomware anyway?
In short, a ransomware attack is a type of malware that invades a system and encrypts sensitive data. Encrypting means encoding the data so that unauthorized people cannot access, read or modify it. In this way, attackers often demand a sum of money to return the stolen data, which can vary from small amounts to large sums of money, depending on the attackers, the amount of data stolen and so on. It should be noted that attackers usually ask for the transfer in the form of digital coins, which are not traceable; leaving less evidence and traces to find the culprits.
Data Hijacking – Ransomware what is it? and how to protect yourself against cyber attacks
How to avoid ransomware attacks
In this paragraph we’ll talk about some strategies for trying to avoid this type of attack, and what to do if your system is breached.
The most effective way to protect your data is simply to prevent ransomware applications from being installed on your system. Similarly, a good strategy is to map out the possible ways in which such an application would enter your system, as well as which data would be primarily attacked. This makes it easier to signal which systems will be the main targets, and what should be included in more frequent backups.
Below we list the main steps to follow when building a good prevention plan against ransomware attacks
Main steps to follow when building a good prevention plan against ransomware attacks
1- Data mapping
Make a list of all your company’s data, stating the type of information (critical, valuable, private, etc.) and where it is stored. Once the list is complete, classify your data according to importance, so that you know which should be protected first and foremost and included in regular backups.
2 – Equipment mapping
Create a list of all the equipment and workstations open and used in the company. This way, you can identify where an attack might come from, for example. As with the data list, you can also classify your terminals according to the type of information.
3 – Disaster recovery plan
Create a disaster recovery plan for ransomware attacks. The plan should clearly define which systems and data must be recovered and the backups to be used.
4 – Backups
Even more important than just making backups is ensuring that they are well protected. They will only be useful if they are usable, i.e. safe and accessible. You need to make sure that any backups you use are reliable and that the data they contain can be restored.
5 – Secondary copies of your data
Keep copies of your data in other locations, preferably offline. This way, you can ensure that even if your company is attacked with ransomware, an OFFLINE storage unit will not be contaminated with malicious encryption. Remember to protect the data on your secondary drive as well as your primary drives.
And if you have already been attacked by ransomware, what can you do? There are a number of solutions for recovering data without having to give the amount demanded by the attackers, we’ve listed them below:
Main solutions for recovering data
1- Backup restoration
This step is the simplest, most practical and common when it comes to ransomware attacks. All you need to do is restore a backup you have, remembering that it must be from a date before the ransomware, to ensure that the files are clean and safe. Also make sure that your machine or system is disinfected when you restore it, so that you don’t infect the backup files again.
2 – Operating System Restore
If you are using the Windows operating system, you can use one of the backups made automatically by your PC to restore your data, simply by using the Windows System Restore application (Restore your PC in more recent versions). It’s important to remember that this option will only work if you have the option to allow Windows to make one-off backups enabled, otherwise no backup will be found when you perform the PC restore procedure.
3 – Data recovery software
There is also the option of using external applications to restore your data, such as specialized applications for recovering breached data. This option can come in handy if previous solutions haven’t worked, or you simply don’t have a backup that can be restored. There are also applications that specialize in recovering data from ransomware attacks.
As for data recovery software, these applications generally allow you to extract corrupted or deleted data from a given storage drive and repair the affected drives, or reverse format them.
such as those that have been previously corrupted (other than by the ransomware attack) or deleted by mistake.
In this article you’ve learned a little more about ransomware attacks and how to prevent them.