Ransomware attacks have witnessed exponential growth of late. High-profile vulnerabilities and data breaches have impacted notable attack targets and businesses across the globe. Cybercriminals are using Trojan, disguised as a legitimate file, to extort money from businesses, using their critical personal or business data as ransom, like what happened with recent cyberattacks like WannaCry or Colonial Pipeline Ransomware etc.
In fact, around the World, $20 billion was the ransomware damage cost last year, up from $5bn in 2017. And with more than 35% businesses being affected by different malware cyberattacks, there are clear signs that increasing frequency of ransomware attacks is here to stay. Research revealed that there was 1 ransomware attack on businesses every 11 seconds.
Crystal ball suggests that the World would pay a damage cost of around $10.5 Trillion annually by 2025. The latest ransomware attack on Atlanta, Georgia, has paralysed a city where people rely on public administration, including access to police records and court services, among other things.
It has been speculated that losses caused by ransomware are estimated to reach $265 billion annually, with an attack happening every two seconds on average.
There are a few ways to ensure that no one gets access to your files, even if they get into your computer. Increasing your password strength is the best way to ensure that hackers cannot get into your computer and find any files to access. But if you don’t have time for that or aren’t sure how to do it, there are other solutions you can use. This blog discusses those solutions and how you can protect yourself against hackers.
7-Step Ransomware Prevention Checklist 2022
Some of the things that security and risk management leaders can do to protect against ransomware include:
- Educate employees about threat and risks of ransomware and how to avoid it
- Limit the ability of employees to install unauthorized software
- Enforce Zero Trust Policy
- Patch Software
- Put Email filtering systems in place
- Scan email attachments for malware before they’re opened
- Back up data regularly so that it can be restored if it’s encrypted by ransomware
