On average, organizations take about 200 days to identify new ransomware threats. In combination with aging hardware, out of date software, poor network monitoring, and lack of professional IT assistance, this makes for quite the mess.
Hackers are less likely to attempt an attack against an automatically patched software or newly issued hardware. The reason being that vulnerabilities are lower and exploits for newly issued hardware most likely have not been found yet, or are already patched. Those that are behind in refreshing their technology are an easy target for attack.
Here are 5 best practices to follow to secure your network and avoid ransomware attacks.
-
Improve Network Hygiene – Automatic deployment of patches and updates, replace old or out of date firewalls, IPS, as well as ensure you are using a quality email spam filtering service to protect against phishing and malicious links and sites.
-
Defend Strategically rather than Haphazardly – It is recommended that organizations employ security as a big picture solution rather than single use. Integrated security is the best defense for networks as it reduces backdoor vulnerabilities and holes that might be exploited.
-
Reduce Detection Time – It would be ideal if your organization had the tools and professional aid to recognize an attack as soon as it occurred. But most organizations find themselves in the dark for weeks before an attack is detected. By measuring the time to detection, you vet that the systems in place are capable or not capable of delivering the fastest detection time. This ensures that your organization can respond to threats in real time, and prevent further attack.
-
Protect Users No Matter the Location – Ensure that you are protecting your users while they are on the company network and when they are not. Good password manager software and VPN tunnels are key to keeping to a good security practice. It is also important that you communicate with your users the importance of cyber security and illustrate good habits.
-
Routinely Test Backups – Confirm that your backups are healthy and current. Test that they are free from compromise. If you are hacked, you will want to have backups that are ready to go.
If you are interested in reading the original article, or would like to educate yourself in more detail about the information presented in this blog post, please visit: https://newsroom.cisco.com
