People worried that hackers would steal their personal information and do terrible things with it in the old days. These days, ransomware attacks are on the rise.
Instead of stealing information and using it, like identity theft, or selling it, hackers are holding your data hostage. The scam is simple enough. Pay us or lose your data forever. While some businesses pay up, there is a more important issue at play.
How do you protect your business from ransomware? Keep reading for some key tips to help you and your business avoid ransomware woes.
Data Backups
Many businesses employ unpredictable data backup practices. Small companies are particularly bad about this, often making backups when someone remembers to do it.
Yet, reliable data backups are excellent insurance against ransomware. It doesn’t solve the problem of getting locked out of your system. What it does allow us a clean wipe of your system. After that, you can reload essential programs and your backed-up data.
Training
A lot of hacking these days relies on social engineering. The hackers essentially trick your employees into giving them access to your network. Once they have that access, they can set up their ransomware scheme.
Employees need more than a one-time briefing on cybersecurity. They need solid, initial training. Then, everyone needs periodic refresher courses.
Make sure that training includes a section on recognizing social engineering scams.
Keep Key Software Updated
Another good cybersecurity practice that helps you avoid becoming a victim of ransomware is software updates. Ensure that essential security software like firewalls and anti-ransomware software get regular updates.
Most software packages these days let you enable automatic updates. Enable that feature for your security software.
Hackers can exploit weaknesses in other kinds of software to access your network, so install the updates for your other software.
Strong Password Security
Employees hate strong password requirements because it makes them much more difficult to remember. A problem exacerbated by the fact that people have so many other passwords they must remember already.
Yet, weak passwords are a serious risk that can compromise your entire network. Insist on strong passwords.
Outsource
If you feel like your IT department is weak, or it simply doesn’t exist, consider outsourcing some of your needs. You can use IT services that will help with everything from data backups and remote support to cybersecurity for your business. Outsourcing lets you fill the gaps in your in-house expertise.
How Can You Avoid Ransomware?
In many ways, the business owner’s quest to avoid ransomware is really just the quest to maintain overall digital security. You use good data backup practices so you don’t lose data, either to equipment failure or hackers.
You institute cybersecurity training and strong passwords. This limits the human error element in digital security. You don’t let your software go without updates. When in doubt, you outsource your IT needs to professionals.
Pegasus Technologies specializes in IT services for businesses. For questions or more information on our services, contact Pegagus Technologies today.
Pegasus Technologies is the IT Team for organizations that don’t need a full-time IT department. Our technology experts build you a technology plan to keep your business running at its best. We have offices in Kennett Square, PA, Media, PA, and Wayne, PA to provide better computer support and IT services to you.
