How Can Managed Service Providers Protect their Clients in Ransomware

How Can Managed Service Providers Protect their Clients in RansomwareAs cyber threats increase in aggression, most managed service providers are trying to devise various means to avoid, if not completely eliminate, ransomware attacks to protect their clients. In fact, ransomware threats are not only affecting the largest continents in the world, they are also creating a significant impact even in the third world countries.

Ransomware is a type of software that will typically make it difficult for you to access your files. Once a cyber terrorist is successful at planting ransomware into your systems, they may demand an equivalent amount in exchange for you to regain control over your infrastructure. Most organisations will likely select this option to avoid further damages, before their clients even realise that there has been an attack.

This is where managed service providers insert themselves in the picture. It is mostly important to deploy the correct tools to defeat cyber attacks. We have listed down some of the best means available to protect clients against ransomware.

  1. Plan Ahead.

    Plan Ahead

    Since it is impossible to determine when an attack is bound to happen, it is best to recommend your clients to execute regular back-ups and create a disaster recovery strategy in case of breach of infrastructure.

    The back-up procedure consists of all files within the local device storage up to anything in the cloud. Make sure to prioritise the security of sensitive files involving the customer’s personal details and financial transactions.

    Duplicate files as this will ascertain that you will not compromise any lost data from attackers.

  2. Propose Internet Security Service Training

    Internet Security Service Training

    Email is one of the fastest and easiest means to implant ransomware. Educating your clients with the proper awareness and basics of email safety will be of great assistance. It will only take a single successful target to penetrate an organisation’s system structure, so preventing all access points to cyber terrorists is key to defeating a cyber attack.

  3. Determine and Protect all possible ransomware Entry Point

    Determine and Protect all possible ransomware Entry Point

    Installation of group policy or local policy in the system is proven to be an effective tool to avoid ransomware attacks. It was observed that Windows users are most vulnerable to cyber terrorism. Why? Simply because Windows is vastly used and it is one of the top operating systems in the market. Due to its user-friendly nature, the Windows system may also be identified as an easy target entry point by cyber security breach.

    If a group or local policy is installed in your organisation’s IT system, it can pre-emptively detect the entry of malwares. These policies will deploy certain system procedures to avoid the installation of ransomware. An example is to disable the execution of an unknown file from the user directories. A known characteristic of ransomware is that it requires a specific and constant location to place and enable itself. Once the policy is set to navigate from this location, it can prevent the several forms of ransomware from executing.

    Another sample of policy is to check for specific keys or words that identifies most ransomware. Once the policy finds a match to these key words, it will stop the installation of any file onto the system. It is very important to regularly update the policy to track the new and innovated strain of ransomware.

  4. Educate your clients to avoid entering known malware sites

    Educate your clients to avoid entering known malware sites

    As often as you visit several websites, it is recommended that you search for the most common malware sites for your protection. There are in fact several databases that monitor the activities of cyber terrorists which may be in the form of an IP address, domain, or any other origin of ransomware which have been verified. This internet security service and information is readily available for anyone to use. With these known sources, an organisation may then set up an blackhole to filter the sites and put a stop to them from installing viruses into your infrastructure.

  5. Identify and Destroy Infections at once

    Identify and Destroy Infections at once

    Now adays, companies will either plan to avoid the occurrence of cyber threats or devise measures to eliminate them once they have corrupted the system. Clients need to keep in mind that internet security services include procedures on how to find the source of the virus, how it managed to penetrate the system and which users were affected by the malware. This process will ensure that not only can you revert your infrastructure, you can also be sure that there will be no additional damages caused.

    Upon completion of this task, the internet security service must now execute the formatting and restoration of your system.

Now that we are somehow equipped with the basics of ransomware, it is vital that we contribute a fair share of caution and sensitivity to the business’ cyber security. The impact of the damage ransomware can inflict will vary on the countermeasures that we have implemented.

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