Small businesses are targeted in 71% of all ransomware attacks, and these attacks often are successful and costly, according to www.uschamber.com/co.
Following are some precautions you can take to prevent criminals from infiltrating your company’s system.
- Ensure your software is up to date. Software providers issue periodic updates that include important security patches and upgrades. It is important to update your security programs regularly and promptly.
- Layer security measures. Use more than one security tool, such as a firewall, anti-virus software, anti-malware software, spam filters and cloud data loss prevention. Most experts recommend using a combination of tools so if one fails, there are backup protections in place.
- Conduct awareness training. Employee can compromise the security of a company’s data and systems through negligence or human error. It is crucial to educate them about ransomware and how they can help prevent an attack.
- Configure access controls. It is important to actively manage who can access your information, giving minimal access to files, programs and accounts only to those who need it.
- Implement multifactor authentication or two-factor authentication, which is when a user needs to provide more than a single factor—such as a username and password—to access a platform, system or network. Additionally, be sure your employees are setting strong passwords.
- Back up everything. If your system gets compromised, you can avoid having to pay a ransom by backing everything up regularly—every day, if possible.
- Enable strong spam filters to your email and other messaging services to reduce the risk of phishing. There will be less risk of your employees falling for a scam and inadvertently introducing malware into your system.
