All businesses, regardless of their size or the industry they’re in, are under constant threat from digital attackers. While many organizations might think their businesses don’t present the same value proposition to attackers as major corporations, the fact is that all organizations have some level of risk.
These risks can become all too real for businesses when faced with a devastating ransomware event. This aggressive form of malware can stop a business in its tracks, taking offline critical systems or databases that can disable operations overnight.
But what happens if your own business faces this worst-case scenario? Below, we’ll walk you through key strategies you should follow to ensure you’re able to minimize the damage from a ransomware event successfully.
Stay Vigilant and Look for Early Signs of an Attack
While ransomware attacks may seem like they happen immediately, the reality is that there are a lot of potential signs that could indicate you’re an intended target. Prevention is key to protecting your business from the side effects of a ransomware attack, and this all begins with awareness.
One of the most common red flags your business should look for is unusual spikes in network activity. These are often signs that attackers may be stress testing your defenses or compromising different elements of security. This activity usually happens overnight or during off-hours when system administrators are offline and less likely to notice the anomalies.
You should also consider that your company may not be a specific target and could be collateral damage from an attack on one of your external partners. This is why it’s critical to have a third-party risk management strategy in place to adequately vet and validate how well your partners’ security protocols align with your own.
Isolate New Threats Quickly
Speed and efficiency are your allies when dealing with an active ransomware threat. The longer it takes you to isolate and address the malware, the more potential damage it can cause.
As a new threat is recognized, it’s critical that you execute threat mitigation steps quickly. This could involve isolating and quarantining the threat so it can’t infect other connected systems or databases. A highly effective method for achieving this is to make sure you have segmented your networks, creating digital boundaries between your primary network access points and critical systems.
This precaution helps to give security teams more time to contain new threats and makes it much more difficult for attackers to create irreparable damage to your business network.
Begin a Thorough Incident Assessment
After you’ve successfully contained the threat and it’s unable to infect other areas of the business, start a thorough incident assessment. This process is all about trying to close off any security gaps that led to the attack itself.
Part of this process involves first understanding the strain of malware you’re dealing with and its common attack vectors. Understanding exactly where and how the malware was uploaded and any steps attackers used to circumvent perimeter security is essential for avoiding the same issues moving forward.
Keep in Mind any Compliance Mandates
An important element of ransomware recovery is understanding and following all compliance mandates. Depending on the industry your business is in, it may be subject to a wide range of requirements based on compliance frameworks such as SOC, HIPAA, or PCI-DSS.
These strict requirements have very specific instructions on how data breaches need to be managed and communicated, depending on the type of data that may have become compromised.
Reviewing all of these directives and ensuring you follow them carefully can help your business to avoid hefty penalties associated with non-compliance and protect the organization from any legal action being taken against it.
Work With Outside Security Professionals
Whether trying to strengthen your organization’s security measures or trying to expedite recovery initiatives, working with an outside security firm can be highly beneficial. Managed Security Services Providers (MSSPs) employ teams of seasoned security professionals who have a detailed understanding of how ransomware works and the necessary protocols involved with identifying and removing it from critical systems.
Outside security professionals can help with strengthening cloud-based configurations. Because of the complexity and scale of cloud deployments, it can be easy to lose track of important security configurations. Working with cloud penetration testing services is a great way to validate that all necessary security protocols are functioning as intended, thereby reducing your business’s digital attack surface.
Evaluate Each of Your Recovery Options
An essential aspect for recovering your systems effectively is to weigh all the best options for bringing critical applications, services, or databases back online as quickly as possible. This will heavily depend on how consistent and thorough you were in creating regular backups throughout the year.
If you have, you’ll need to decide the order in which you begin your recovery efforts. In many cases, system recoveries can take considerable time to achieve, so it’s essential to prioritize the systems that have the most significant impact on your business first.
It can also be beneficial to consult with professional data recovery experts who can help you execute each recovery initiative methodically and can take over the heavy lifting of carrying out specific incident response initiatives on your behalf. They can also help you to scale recovery efforts in the event that your initial recovery efforts aren’t moving as fast as you need them to.
Keep Your Business More Resilient
There is no questioning that ransomware attacks should be taken very seriously, well before they become a reality for the business. However, in the event that your organization becomes a victim, it’s essential to take quick action to contain and eliminate the threat.
By following the strategies discussed, you’ll be able to minimize the damage from a ransomware attack while establishing more resilient operations long-term.
