Over the last few years, ransomware attacks have become more frequent, as criminals have been targeting businesses and organizations alike in order to obtain user information. The goal is to monetize user information and force companies to pay a fee for their vital data through infiltrating a database and building an encrypted wall between the business and internal data. These attacks can be costly to recover from, and are on the rise.
Believe it or not, there has been a recent uptick of ransomware attacks hitting businesses large and small. The CISA, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National Security Agency (NSA), have released a joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) highlighting a global increase in sophisticated, high-impact, ransomware incidents against critical infrastructure organizations in 2021. The advisory states that cyber criminals are using phishing attacks, stealing Remote Desktop credentials, and finding vulnerabilities in software in order to carry out ransomware attacks.
We want your business to be prepared for anything that may come your way. Here are some practical things you can do today to protect your business from a ransomware attack.
Are You Educating Your Employees on Cybersecurity?
No one intends to visit a website that is filled with ransomware or open an attachment from an untrusted source, however, it happens every day. Inform your employees about what to look out for and how to navigate situations that they may come across. This will significantly decrease your chances of becoming a ransomware attack victim.
Some ways you can engage and educate your employees are:
- Having a Q&A time with your IT department
- Finding a reliable source of articles or blogs about the topic and printing them out for employees
- Having a third party employ tests for employees, to demonstrate how easy it is for people to get into your database.
Are You Implementing Cybersecurity Procedures?
Additionally, there are some cybersecurity procedures that you should implement business-wide to protect your business from being attacked. Procedures to implement include:
- Never opening links from an untrusted source
- Never downloading items from an unfamiliar website
- Updating devices immediately when security updates are available
- Create an offline backup of your data, to ensure that you can still operate your business if you come under attack
These are simple ways you can ensure safety of your company and your data. Protecting your company from a ransomware attack is everyone’s responsibility, and ensuring that your employees are aware of how attacks happen, as well as implementing safety precautions, will lessen the chances of your business being attacked.
Here at Blackhawk Bank, we want to ensure that you have peace of mind with helping customers day by day and providing guidance on protecting data security at all times. Want to learn more about Blackhawk Bank? Contact us today!
Jessica Hendon