How To Mitigate the Risk of Ransomware Attacks

You can mitigate the risk of ransomware attacks by regularly backing up your data, updating your device with the latest software, implementing least-privilege access, using a business password manager and educating employees about security awareness, among other things. Ransomware attacks occur when organizations are prevented from accessing files and data until they’ve paid a ransom to the cybercriminal who infected their devices with malware. Based on a 2024 report published by Veeam, the average victim has lost approximately 43% of their data following a ransomware attack. Verizon’s 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) found that about 33% of all breaches involved ransomware, and ransomware was the highest threat for 92% of industries studied. These types of cyber attacks can harm organizations by damaging their reputations, exposing customer data and stealing confidential information.

Continue reading to learn how to reduce the impacts and chances of ransomware attacks within your organization.

1. Regularly back up data

Given the potential for data loss following a ransomware attack, it is important that you frequently back up your data. By regularly backing up your data, you and your organization will be better prepared if you need to recover from a ransomware attack. Backups should occur every day to ensure the most accurate data is available if you need to restore anything. For organizations, it’s best to save multiple copies of data in different locations because, if it’s only saved in one place and cybercriminals find it, the backups will have served no purpose.

2. Keep software and Operating Systems (OS) up to date

By keeping your software up to date, you give your devices enhanced security features, bug fixes and overall improved performance. When a software update is available for your device, it means something has been fixed, or a new feature has been added to keep your device safe and functioning well. By not installing these updates, you risk cybercriminals taking advantage of your outdated software, which could make it easier for them to infect your device with ransomware.

3. Implement least privilege access

When you give employees the least amount of access needed to do their jobs, this is known as least privilege access. It’s important to give your employees access only to what is necessary for their work so that if a data breach or ransomware attack occurs, cybercriminals cannot access the entire organization’s data. You can implement least-privilege access in your organization by determining which roles are allowed privileged permissions, investing in a Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution that secures and manages accounts with highly sensitive data and enforcing MFA for all employees to access any accounts.

PAM helps protect accounts with the most critical permissions to sensitive information, including a company’s IT resources and HR’s payroll data. Since these types of sensitive information could be most damaging if placed in the wrong hands, PAM helps secure the authorization of anyone with privileged access. This is significant because keeping the most sensitive data under strict protection will minimize the potential impact if a ransomware attack were to occur.

4. Employ a business password manager

Using a business password manager, you and your employees can create, track and store all passwords in a secure digital vault. Because your organization has information worth protecting, a business password manager is a great way to enforce strong password policies. You can choose to set a minimum password length and require all employees to enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for an extra layer of security on their accounts.

This is a much better solution than allowing employees to use any password they want for work-related accounts. Many people reuse the same password across multiple accounts or choose weak passwords to avoid having to remember complex ones. Weak passwords can lead to ransomware attacks because cybercriminals can crack them easily. If your employee’s work-related password is cracked, your organization can have lots of compromised data.

5. Teach employees security awareness

An organization needs to teach its employees about security awareness to mitigate potential risks of ransomware attacks. Employees who receive many emails are most susceptible to falling victim to phishing attacks, specifically if those phishing attacks use social engineering. Social engineering is a tactic used by cybercriminals to psychologically manipulate individuals into sharing private information. To do this, cybercriminals research their target and impersonate someone their target trusts, making the request for private information appear much less threatening. If you are targeted and fall for these types of attacks, you risk jeopardizing not only your data within the organization but also the entire organization’s data.

6. Segment your organization’s network

If your organization’s network is segmented, you can easily isolate parts of the network that have access to sensitive information and prevent lateral movement. A segmented network limits employees’ access to small subsets of a network rather than the entire thing. This minimizes the potential effects of a data breach or ransomware attack since cybercriminals would only have access to the isolated part of the network they breached.

7. Install antivirus software and firewalls

By installing both antivirus software and firewalls on company devices, you can reduce the chances of ransomware infiltrating your devices and networks. Antivirus software can be installed on your devices to detect, stop and remove known viruses and malware before they infect your devices. Once your antivirus software matches your device’s code with information from its virus database, the software will find and delete the malicious file or software before it affects your device.

Firewalls are systems that secure your network from threats by controlling network traffic. Since firewalls generally log network traffic to determine if there are any external security threats, installing firewalls is beneficial to the overall safety of your devices. Firewalls can be installed on every employee’s device to stop unauthorized users from accessing networks and private data.

8. Perform penetration tests regularly

Your organization should conduct penetration testing regularly to be prepared for any data breaches or ransomware attacks. Penetration tests simulate cyber attacks to assess the strength of an organization’s security measures and identify weaknesses that could be improved. Some vulnerabilities that organizations may have include unpatched devices, weak password management or flaws in applications. Since ransomware attacks can result in significant financial or data loss, regular penetration tests can save an organization both financially and security-wise by identifying its strengths and weaknesses through mock cyber attacks.

9. Implement endpoint security measures

As more organizations allow their employees to work hybrid or fully remote, it is important to implement endpoint security measures to protect company data. Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) is a broad term for a software solution that constantly tracks device activity to analyze threat data. Some EDR systems are used just to alert administrators about data patterns that could become threatening. Imagine endpoint security measures as having a security camera on every endpoint device; they’re there to collect data for humans to observe, analyze and choose how to respond.

In a remote work environment, endpoint security measures are essential because cybercriminals view all devices connected to an organization’s network as smaller targets leading to the biggest one. Endpoint security measures protect employees’ devices from malware, unauthorized users and data breaches because the EDR systems can detect threats immediately.

10. Create an incident response plan

Your organization should have an incident response plan in place as a precaution in case a data breach or ransomware attack occurs. Just as schools have children practice fire drills, organizations should be familiar with a plan to reduce panic and minimize damage if a cyber attack happens within their business. Incident response plans minimize the duration of a cyber attack by ensuring preparedness to regain control of private data. To create a strong incident response plan, you should start by organizing your assets from most to least important and determining who to contact for each hypothetical incident. This will help you and your organization prepare for any situation, and having a plan in place will help you feel less frightened if your organization is attacked.

Mitigate ransomware attacks with Keeper

There are many ways that Keeper^® can help you and your organization mitigate ransomware attacks. Request a demo of Zero-Trust KeeperPAM to learn more about how your employees’ login credentials and devices can be protected against cyber attacks. You can also start a free 14-day trial of Keeper Business Password Manager which can keep your organization’s passwords strong, secure and easy to share within your organization.