For cybercriminals, Ransomware is one of the most efficient ways of making some quick money. While it isn't always, the payout is almost always certain, and if they can target the right victim, the payout can be extremely large. Essentially, Ransomware is the process through which a cybercriminal gains access to a system or network and hijacks that system rendering it useless for the owner.
They then ask for a ransom to give control of the system back to the owner. However, this can also be applied to things like data, networks, and any other form of digital assets that can be 'hijacked'. For companies, government institutes, and even small organizations, not having access to their own digital infrastructure can not only compromise their own operations but also puts at the risk the information of users and clients that they have stored. Here are a few recommendations from NIST that will help you deal with the problem of Ransomware.
Anti-Virus
The attacker will try to gain access to your system in one way or another and the first line of defense against this move is a good antivirus that is set to scan everything on your computer. This attack could come in the form of an email, a compromised website, or even through an enticing ad. Having an antivirus will help stop you before you charter into dangerous territories.
Updates
The other important thing to do is to make sure all your systems and the services on those systems are constantly updated and you are always running the latest version. Every software has a weakness and the updates are meant to work out these bugs and provide you with a more secure experience. Criminals try to exploit the weaknesses in these systems and running an older version of software means that you are using something that can be exploited.
Browser Security
Whatever kind of work you do, chances are that you do need to use the internet at some point or another. It is a very wise investment to have a dedicated browser security solution that will constantly monitor your online activity and make sure that you aren't visiting a site that is infected. In the case that you do visit something dangerous, it will stop the action immediately and give you a security prompt asking you to confirm that you want to continue.
Authorized Software
In some cases, criminals will infect software and offer this is freeware. Usually, this will be a compromised version of popular and expensive software, making it all the more enticing to get a free version. Be very wary of these cheap options as they will most likely be infected with some kind of virus, Ransomware, keylogger, or any other kind of malicious file that will compromise your security.
Authorized Devices
The other way criminals can get in is by compromising devices that have access to that network. This is why it is very important that you have dedicated work machines that are only used for professional purposes. Having your employees keep their personal devices separate from work is extremely important. You don’t know who else has access to those devices and you don’t know which kinds of networks those devices connect to.
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