How To Prevent Ransomware Attacks Business
How to protect against ransomware attacks effectively is a challenge not only for the world's largest organizations, but for businesses of all sizes. No industry is immune, but some are targeted more often. According to , "Rather than continue trying to gain access to major enterprises, ransomware gangs have changed tactics by . Once considered too small to justify a ransomware attack, these mid-sized targets now allow hackers to stay under the radar and extract smaller payments without drawing government or media attention." Ransomware can cause significant financial and reputational damage. And with the ever-evolving landscape of cyberthreats, it's a lot for any single entity to capture. That's why , contains data contributed from 87 organizations. This year marks the report's 15th anniversary where 23,896 security incidents were reviewed, 5,212 breaches were analyzed and 12 industry sectors along with four regions were spotlighted. The DBIR takes a deep look into how ransomware attacks and ransomware detection techniques have evolved since the report's inception. Gain vital insights into security strategies and how to minimize vulnerability to cyber attacks. Read our in-depth analysis of 23,896 incidents from organizations around the world. Arguably, the first documented ransomware virus dates back to the era of the floppy disk. the , also known as the PC Cyborg virus, was literally distributed by hand via approximately 20,000 infected disks labeled "AIDS Information - Introductory Diskettes" to attendees of the World Health Organization's AIDS conference. Attendees, without considering the risk, loaded the floppy discs into their hard drives causing the virus to encrypt files on their C-drives. To regain access, victims were instructed,Ransomware attacks have grown exponentially in maturity and complexity since 1989. A recent example includes a global ransomware attack that spread from computer-to-computer using Microsoft Windows operating system (OS), which demanded Bitcoin payment for the safe return of data (no stamps required). Another example is the hack of 2021 which was . For several days mass panic ensued because the Colonial Pipeline supplies approximately half of the fuel for the east coast of the United States, causing a gas crisis and even airlines to shut down. "From very well publicized critical infrastructure attacks to massive supply chain breaches, the financially motivated criminals and nefarious nation-state actors have rarely, if ever, come out swinging the way they did over the last 12 months," according to the authors of the ). last year, which is a shocking 13% year-over-year increase, and is greater than the previous five years combined. Almost four out of five breaches were attributable to organized crime. Their number one motive was financial gain followed by espionage. And it's important to note, attacks are not limited to particular . And according to the :,Shockingly, is approximately seven times higher than the actual extortion request. Using data provided by the FBI, the found the median amount of money lost due to ransomware was $11,150, however, some losses were in the million dollar range. And it's important to note that the per attack. Interestingly, 90% of confirmed cases did not result in losses. But costs are not limited to the financial gain obtained by the bad actor, they can negatively impact your organization in many ways. For example:,The cost of these attacks come in many forms, sometimes even in the form of human tragedy. A ransomware attack on a U.S. hospital in the fatality of an infant after computer systems were taken offline for several days. And with the rise of organized crime, it's no surprise that the to take immediate steps to harden their networks' cyber defenses. According to , 14 out of 16 U.S. Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) sectors have been attacked in the past. Additionally, ransomware is judged by the to be the number one cyber threat for both SMBs and enterprises. Attacks on major brands grab the headlines, but according to one estimate, with under 1,000 employees. It's important to harden your security posture no matter the size or industry, especially as the cost of how to protect against ransomware outweighs the detriment. Defending an organization against the growing threat of ransomware means knowing how ransomware spreads in the first place, and which controls – from technology and business process refinement to employee training – are needed. Here is the typical progression of an attack:,Attacker often gains initial access into the system via phishing, unauthorized Remote Desktop Access (RDA), or vulnerability exploitation. Attacker uses established connection to . Attacker deploys ransomware payload. Attacker steals sensitive data. Attacker triggers ransomware to encrypt victims data. Victim is sent a ransom demand. Attackers may threaten to leak data or resort to other measures of force:Payment of the ransom doesn't necessarily mean you get your data back. And if payment is made (typically via digital currency), the money is likely to be subsequently laundered. This is in addition to the loss of operations and reputational damage. No matter the attacker's motivation, it's paramount to prepare your organization with the right strategy—built around adequate preparedness and rapid detection, response and recovery—so your organization can avoid compromise altogether, or at least minimize the impact of an attack, and learn how to protect against ransomware attacks. According to the , about two-thirds or 66% of breaches involved phishing, stolen credentials and/or ransomware. Here are the top ways ransomware actors typically gain initial access to their victims:,These use tried-and-tested social engineering techniques to trick an employee into clicking on a malicious link or opening a booby-trapped attachment. The resulting malware installation is usually covert, enabling attackers to access the corporate network and reach key assets within. RDA is used by organizations to enable employees to remotely connect to their corporate desktops/applications. It saw a surge in use during the pandemic, which also gave threat actors the perfect opportunity to take advantage of poor cyber hygiene. In most cases of RDA compromise, attackers use previously breached or stolen credentials, or use brute force to open accounts using automated software. This provides them with network access. 2021 held . Attackers often take advantage of the fact that organizations are behind the curve on patching all of these bugs. They particularly target applications that are designed to be accessed from outside the corporate network, like RDA or VPNs. Sometimes, the applications are run by third-party supply chain partners and have privileged access to corporate networks, as witnessed in a 2021 attack involving . Better security and incident preparedness to help prevent an attack. Confidence in their incident & response plan and ability to recover. If you'd like to receive new articles, solutions briefs, whitepapers and more—just let us know.. Preventing ransomware attacks may be difficult, but there are still ways to protect systems and reduce the risk. To help organizations combat ransomware, the DBIR links its findings to a series of security controls from the that can be enacted by an organization and are considered industry-standard for building an effective security program. It's impossible for any organization to be 100% breach-proof, especially in a world of increasingly determined threat actors. from a wide array of online threats with automated updates to help shield you from the latest online dangers. And by honing your ransomware detection techniques, your organization will be enabled to spot suspicious activity early on in order to minimize the impact of potential compromise. Signature-based detection via anti-malware can help identify known malware. Intrusion detection system (IDS) and behavioral detection looks for the tell-tale signs of ransomware activity. Detecting suspicious traffic uses network detection and response (NDR)-based tools. In addition to anti-malware software, intrusion detection systems (IDS), NDR tools, and ransomware detection techniques, organizations can gain visibility into suspicious activity by setting up honeypots and using other deception tools. Micro-segmentation will also help block any unusual lateral movement, containing the blast radius of an attack and ensuring threat actors can't get to your prized assets. Investing in cyber insurance can help the organizations prepare for the threat of ransomware. In the past, insurers have come under pressure from critics who claimed that easy coverage disincentivized organizations to spend more on security and encouraged threat actors to carry out more attacks—knowing ransoms would be covered by premiums. That is now changing, with insurers reducing coverage and increasing premiums, especially for organizations in high-risk sectors and those without baseline security controls in place. reported that cyber premiums increased across the board, regardless of the industry sector or size of the organization, and claimed that customers lacking specific data security controls have seen rates spike by 100-300%. If you have put proactive security measures in place but want to hedge the risk of a ransomware breach, insurance is still a useful option. One small mis-step could undermine an organization's security posture, and per the 2022 DBIR, this year 82% of breaches involved the human element. Whether that was by use of stolen credentials, phishing, misuse, or simply human error, people continue to play a very large role in incidents and breaches alike. There are several best practices that can . According to the , "40% of Ransomware incidents involve the use of desktop sharing software and 35% involve the use of email. There are a variety of different tools the threat actor can use once they are inside your network, but locking down your external-facing infrastructure, especially RDP and Emails, can go a long way toward protecting your organization against ransomware."Work with a dedicated team of experts to create a customized to your cyber-risk profile. Here are the steps your organization can take to help employees be prepared for a possible attack and know how to help prevent ransomware attacks. Strengthen your security and manage compliance using industry standards and best practices. Cyber security awareness-raising programs will help teach staff how to spot phishing attempts. Exercises and simulations should include all key stakeholders identified from across the business and feature different scenarios. These may include the three typical initial access vectors outlined above and the possibility that all of your organization's systems are encrypted and highly sensitive and regulated data is stolen. The best response plans are powered by tailored to an organization's specific risk profile. If you manage to catch an attack in the early stages of the , it's possible your organization could escape a ransomware attack without any data stolen and no systems encrypted. However, even organizations that did suffer some kind of data encryption got at least some of their data back How early an attack was caught will have an impact on how expensive recovery is. The per attack. Consider these tips to improve your chances of successful recovery:,1. Don't pay the ransom. that paid got all their data back, and there's no guarantee the threat actors will not still try to monetize their breach. 2. Report the attack immediately to law enforcement. Many agencies have access to decryption keys, which can accelerate recovery times significantly. 3. Engage a if necessary to understand the extent of the attack. 4. Remove all traces of the attack by thoroughly cleansing systems. 5. Restore data from backups only once all signs of the attack have been expunged. Once the dust has settled, it's a good idea to understand what lessons can be learned from an incident to enhance resilience ahead of the next attack. Stakeholders from across the business should be involved, including legal, human resources, security, IT ops, and relevant board representatives. Postmortems typically contain an executive summary and key highlights for business leaders but also drill down into the technical detail for IT stakeholders. Questions to be answered via this process include:,Consider including all events from initial access (and, if relevant, threat actor reconnaissance) to remediation. Lessons learned should span people, processes and technology. The right security assessment can help determine how effectively your security program is performing against expectations. After completing the post mortem, it's time to put those findings into action. An Incident Response report can help train operations teams to learn to identify and mitigate risks in a proactive manner. The landscape of cyber extortion is growing in volume, sophistication like ransomware as a service (Raas) or its taking many adjacent forms like Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. Much of the recent increase in ransomware attacks comes down to a new business model that has allowed a new wave of ransomware: ). Just as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) popularized the delivery of software from the cloud, RaaS has streamlined the management and deployment of ransomware attacks. Bad actors, typically referred to as affiliates, pay RaaS operators/developers a monthly fee for the use of malware. Affiliates receive an off-the-shelf ransomware starter kit including ransomware payload and attack infrastructure. It's down to the affiliate to gain initial access to their victim and perform lateral movement inside the network. Often access is bought from , which, in combination with the RaaS model, has opened the door to a large number of less technically proficient cyber criminals. The RaaS operators can . should not come as a surprise, while DDoS attacks for ransom are technically not breaches and data is not compromised, they can shut down entire operations. Likely inspired by the rise of ransomware, cybercriminals have started adopting similar tactics by demanding a payment to stop their DDoS attacks. Given denial of service attacks in the DBIR, the rise of DDoS ransom attacks adds an extra complicating element to modern cyber security. While understanding how to protect against ransomware, many of the same will be beneficial to your organization. As long as organizations keep paying and hostile nations continue to shelter cyber crime actors, ransomware will remain a threat. The most successful groups are highly organized annually on salaries, tools and services. With that kind of money, it's predicted they may be inclined to compromise big game targets. There's also a geopolitical dimension. The U.S. authorities of possible attacks on Western organizations from international cyber crime groups as the world enters a new era of geopolitical instability. As these threats evolve, organizations will also need to adapt in order to find new ways to understand how to mitigate ransomware effectively. The security team that brought you the Verizon 2022 Data Breach Investigations Report can also help with to help strengthen your organization against potential attacks. Learn how Verizon can help . Verizon is recognized as a leader in the latest Omdia Universe Global IT Security Services Universe Report. Market Leaders offer the most comprehensive, well-integrated, end-to-end cybersecurity solutions available globally. Leaders also have above-average customer experience scores. If you are already a Verizon customer, we have several options to help you get the support you need. Choose your country to view contact details. 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