It is absolutely essential to know how to protect yourself from ransomware before an attack occurs.
As a reminder, the estimated cumulative losses for French companies affected by cyberattacks in 2021 are said to be €2 . 5 billion. Furthermore, companies that fell victim to ransomware between January and December 2021 are estimated to have lost an average of 26.7% of their annual revenue, excluding any ransom payments (Source: L’Argus de L’Assurance)
But how do we do that?
The first thing is to know how to prevent ransomware from spreading. Malware can literally bankrupt your organization overnight. Immediately disconnect all devices connected to your infected system.
Unplug the drives, make sure there are no wireless connections between the infected device and other devices, and disconnect it from the network. Once the infection has been identified, it is essential to quickly isolate the system to prevent the virus from spreading.
Many types of malware don’t stop at infecting a single computer. They go straight to the network.
Be sure to disconnect every device and always assume that ransomware is still active on the network. Your goal is to ensure that it has no way of accessing systems through network connections.
Assess the damage caused by ransomware
Check shared drives and folders, network storage devices network storage devices, and external, USB, and cloud folders. Check all known locations of important data.
How far was the malware allowed to spread, and what did it manage to infect? What is the value of the missing data?
Determining the value of the missing information and data will dictate how to respond to the attack.
However, we strongly advise against responding hastily. Even if your important credentials have been compromised, hackers will not always keep their word and return your information.
It is also important to report the ransomware to the authorities
Wasn't that enough?
If none of this has been enough to recover your files, you’ll have to face the facts: those files are likely lost forever. Even so, it’s not recommended that you pay the ransom, as there’s a good chance you won’t even receive the decryption key once you’ve paid.
Although it’s much easier to prevent ransomware than to deal with it, there are still steps you can take. If you’ve been diligent about keeping your backups up to date and updating your devices and software, ransomware shouldn’t be able to infiltrate your system.
