Ransomware attack has become a nightmare to most of the companies these days. And a survey conducted by IDC has proved that most of the CIOs or CTOs leading organizations do not know on how to deal with the situation when ransomware authors target their company’s database.
In this article, we will discuss on a brief note on what to do when a ransomware strikes a corporate network and how to prevent the situation from repeating in near future.
Basically, the ransomware attack is of two types- In the first case, data on the computer or network gets encrypted. And in the second the user screen is locked from access. In most cases these days, the said malware is being developed in such a way that it acts as the worm and spreads to other machines on an automated note- example WannaCry ransomware attack.
The objective behind the attack is simple- make money by demanding a ransom in cryptocurrency in exchange for the decryption key. Well in most cases, hackers do as promised. But in some cases, they demand more ransom or vanish after receiving the ransom amount in their digital wallets- without providing the key to decrypt data on the victim’s database.
How to fight ransomware attack?
It’s proven that a majority of ransomware is spread via massive spam campaigns involving thousand’s of emails sent of a daily or weekly note. Some also creep into a network via compromised websites and in some rare cases, the organizations are specifically targeted with the help of insiders.
Now, let’s suppose you’ve been hit. Then first keep in mind that paying a ransom won’t work as it simply encourages the bad guys to continue in their activity. Instead, it’s better to rely on your data continuity or disaster recovery plan which makes complete sense. Just contact the expertise of a cybersecurity firm and they will help on what to do next.
How to avoid future ransomware attacks hitting your network?
It’s as simple as that. Avoid future attacks by relying on incident response plans and educate the employees on the latest happenings in the cyber landscape. Conducting simulations on ransomware attacks once in 3 or 6 months will also help in isolating your digital assets against any sorts of malware.
