Ransomware protection works through a combination of best practices, expertise and technology that ready a business to prevent, detect, and respond to ransomware attacks. InterVision’s comprehensive Ransomware Protection  as a Service™ (RPaaS™) solution allows companies to outsource these concerns to the experts. Whether you’re doing the work yourself or interested in hiring a third party for cybersecurity, here’s what you need to know to be confident your ransomware protection is keeping you safe.

What Is Ransomware in Simple Words?

Ransomware is programming code that allows a hacker to take your system(s) or files hostage. They then hold your information for ransom—hence the name ransomware. 59% of organizations were breached last year, with an average cost of $3.8 million.

What Happens During a Ransomware Attack?

During a ransomware attack, the data is either encrypted so it cannot be accessed, or entire applications and platforms may be disabled. Though encryption is still most common, extortion-style ransomware attacks where data is not encrypted but simply locked are also on the rise.

Organizations hit with ransomware often experience these attacks as a sudden event when access to the system or data is lost. But the reality is that a ransomware attack could be in the works for days, weeks, or even months before victims become aware.

How Does Ransomware Spread on a Network?

Ransomware spreads through user behavior. The more users on an organization’s network, the greater the risk of ransomware. Email attachments, malicious websites, and vulnerabilities in software platforms or remote desktop (RDP) connections are all opportunities for ransomware code to be installed on a device. This gives the attacker a line of access to the enterprise system, where they may covertly download and set up additional malicious programs. Sometimes, backup systems as well as main files are targeted, to prevent you from restoring the data on your own. Once everything is in place, the attacker can strike and demand their ransom.

What Does Ransomware Protection Do?

Ransomware protection provides threat prevention, detection, and response. Through these three elements, internal security operations teams or outsourced services like our RPaaS™ give companies peace of mind against one of the many emerging threats in today’s complex business landscape.

Prevention: Ransomware prevention is a combination of end user education and cutting-edge information security monitoring tools. Employees should clearly understand cybersecurity policies and best practices. They may also benefit from training about how to recognize threats like email spam. At the same time, software like antivirus or other system settings can block ransomware before it’s installed.

Detection: Ransomware detection relies on tools like endpoint detection and response (EDR) which monitors and analyzes the activity data from every device connected to a network, including computers, servers, smartphones, and even smart watches or digital assistants. When incoming data reflects a known security breach, the user can be logged off or a supervisor notified automatically. This is just one example of the amazing potential for threat detection and response that can be part of a custom strategy for any given organization.

Response: Ransomware response depends on the presence or absence of a backup copy of the data which needs to be recovered. In cases where there’s a backup, your critical data could be back in access within 10 minutes, like one of our clients. Without backup, you may end up among the 32% of ransomware victims who end up paying the ransom. Or even if you don’t pay, your system may remain offline as part of a digital body of evidence for a forensics team tracking criminals.

Even in robust ransomware protection programs, disaster recovery planning and response planning should never be overlooked. Attackers and criminals are always devising new methods to infiltrate high-value, complex systems, meaning the defenses against them should never be taken for granted.

What is Ransomware Protection? It’s a Process You Can Outsource

Ransomware protection as a service defends companies from every angle, going beyond security tools and backups to deploy an end-to-end defense. That means a holistic approach, starting with addressing the risk of ransomware to prevent attacks and working all the way to a response strategy in the event an attack is successful. When you partner with InterVision as your RPaaS™ provider, we even assign you a dedicated virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO) to help your team analyze, advise, and develop important security roadmap plans. That level of service is just one of the reasons InterVision is a trusted leader in data recovery, delivering protection, response, and recovery from cyber threats in a single managed service.

Don’t wait another minute for a ransomware attack to catch you unprepared. Contact InterVision to speak with an expert and learn more about seizing the competitive edge through better disaster preparedness.