The need for Ransomware Protection as a Service® (RPaaS®) is greater now than ever. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 2,474 ransomware reports in 2020, with victims losing more than $29.1 million. Businesses are highly vulnerable to a ransomware attack and should take the necessary steps to improve their network security. The impact of ransomware attacks should not be understated. It’s not if your business will be affected by ransomware; it’s when. Let’s discuss what ransomware is and how to protect against it.
What Is Ransomware?
Ransomware is malware (malicious software) that encrypts a victim’s data to hold it ransom. These software force companies and individuals to pay the ransom to regain access and decrypt their data. Specific ransomware variants have included new features, such as data stealing, to convince ransomware victims to pay. Ransomware attacks often withhold essential data from businesses and cause service disruptions, affecting customers as well. If your systems are down, they cannot connect.
One of ransomware’s most common distribution methods is a phishing scam, which consists of attachments or links sent to the target in an email that looks to be something they can trust. Many phishing emails look indistinguishable from official communication. Some ransomware infects computers by exploiting security flaws without the need for deception.
What Is Ransomware Protection?
Prevention is vital when it comes to ransomware security. Staying observant and running security software are the first steps to protecting your data. Intruders on your network might also be detected with vulnerability scanning. It’s essential to make sure your business’s computer network system isn’t an ideal ransomware target by keeping your devices up-to-date to ensure all security fixes are in place. Vigilance is also necessary while dealing with deceiving websites and email attachments. However, even the most effective preventive measures may fail, highlighting the significance of having a backup plan.
Using this ransomware prevention checklist is a great starting point to fortifying your data:
☐ Security software (RPaaS, Antivirus, Firewall)
☐ Data backup (Daily or Weekly)
☐ Updated operating system
☐ Don’t open suspicious emails or websites
☐ Strong passwords and multi-factor authentication
☐ Map the network
It’s important to follow ransomware protection best practices to reduce the chances of a ransomware attack significantly.
Does Antivirus Stop Ransomware?
Yes and no. Antivirus tools scan websites for files in a database and can detect ransomware codes in the system. In those cases, antivirus software can stop ransomware from locking your device. However, once your computer is compromised, the antivirus software cannot help unless it has features like:
- Monitoring system activity in real-time
- Restoring files in the case of an attack
- Securing against file encryption, modification, or deletion
- Detecting threats that haven’t been seen before
This means that, while it can detect ransomware, antivirus is no longer effective once you are infected unless you have in-depth monitoring, restoration, security, and detections.
What Is Ransomware Protection As a Service (RPaaS)?
To better understand RPaaS, it’s important to distinguish the differences between it and RaaS.
Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) is not a protection service. RaaS is a service that allows an affiliate that lacks the time or ability to create their own ransomware to pay a provider for the use of their developed attacks. Typically these services are sold as a monthly subscription, a percentage of ransom payments, or a one-time licensing fee. This allows users to access their victims’ data and even see analytics about the total number of infections and files they’ve acquired. Simply put, RaaS is a service for scammers to hold your data for a ransom, all for a small fee to a ransomware provider.
InterVision’s Ransomware Protection as a Service (RPaaS), however, is a solution to ransomware vulnerabilities by providing prevention, detection, and responses to attacks. RPaaS helps you address risk, avoid ransom costs, and simplify operations. Using security operations (SOCaaS), recovery (DRaaS and BaaS), and strategic support (vCISO). All data is secured using a roadmap plan backed up with a 3-2-1 recovery model. A 3-2-1, recovery model is:
- Make a primary backup as well as two additional copies of your data.
- Back up your data to two distinct media types.
- Make sure you have at least one backup file stored offline.
No other solution provides these anti ransomware options within a single managed service.
The Best Protection From Ransomware
With over 30 years of experience, InterVision is your IT partner ready 24/7 to assist you in building your business’s security. Our comprehensive approach to prevent, detect and recover your business from a ransomware attack. From the Security Operations as a Service (SOaaS) service that monitors and warns of threat activity to stop attacks before they happen, to ongoing advisory and assistance to support the security processes and risk mitigation via a virtual CISO (vCISO) to full managed replication and recovery processes from service disruption, InterVision’s RPaaS solution covers everything. And then some.
Visit our website or our RPaaS contact page today to improve your stance against cyber attacks and ransomware.
