Approximately 12% of small businesses and 15% of medium-sized businesses reported cybersecurity incidents in 2023, with the leading type of incident reported being ransom attacks. 56% of businesses reported these types of incidents to police services, which includes small businesses.
Small businesses are often targeted because many have insufficient cybersecurity resources – it’s crucial to have the right protection in place to defend against such attacks. In our article, our managed IT solutions experts will explore how you can protect your business against ransomware attacks with strategies specifically tailored to small and medium-sized businesses SMBs.
What is Ransomware?
Ransomware is a kind of malicious software that can encrypt files or lock users out of their files or systems until they pay a ransom fee. There are a few common types of ransomware, which include the following:
Encryption ransomware – This type of ransomware is the kind that makes files inaccessible and unusable until you pay a ransom to receive a decryption key. Attackers deliver this ransomware through phishing emails or malicious websites after gaining access to the system.
Screen Lockers – A screen locker malware locks down the computer and prevents you from using the device. It uses a full-screen browser window, disables the hotkeys and cursor, and hides the taskbar to give the appearance that the device has been locked.
Doxware – A doxware ransomware targets confidential, sensitive data, including emails and financial records. After threatening the system user by telling them they will release the data to the public, the attacker leverages the files and expects users to pay a ransom to minimize reputational damage.
As briefly mentioned, phishing emails are one way attackers spread ransomware. But it is also done through compromised websites and other means. For instance, if your software is outdated and has unpatched security issues, the ransomware can exploit these vulnerabilities and access the files or system.
Why Are Small Businesses at a Higher Risk of Being Targeted with Ransomware?
Since attackers often think that small businesses have weaker defenses or a smaller IT staff department, they consider SMBs easier to exploit.
They may also target SMBs because they consider that such businesses are less likely to backup their data regularly, have response plans in place, or utilize detection tools.
How Can You Protect Your SMB from Ransomware?
However, despite being a potential target, there are multiple ways you can protect your SMB from ransomware. Here are the types of cybersecurity for Canadian businesses we recommend to minimize ransomware risks.
Educate Your Team
With regular cybersecurity awareness training, your team will have a better understanding of the risks cyber attackers pose to your business. The cybersecurity awareness training should be comprehensive and include a few modules. For example, it’s worth teaching your team how to spot phishing emails, from checking the spelling and grammar to considering whether it asks for sensitive information.
Additionally, including modules or topics on how to spot suspicious links can help your team know what to look out for. Let your team know that, looking for hyphens and symbols in a link can indicate that it might not lead to a legitimate website.
Keep Software & Systems Updated
Patching vulnerabilities in operating systems can help ensure ransomware cannot exploit security gaps. This action, alongside installing firewalls – such as Next-Generation Firewalls – can minimize the chances of ransomware entering or spreading through the network.
When completing updates, it’s a best practice to automate these where possible. Automatic updates can enhance the security of the system and reduce risks linked with delayed or ignored software patching processes.
Implement Strong Backup Practices
Just as you automate software updates, you should implement strong, frequent backups. Automating these backups can mean you will lose less data if you are a victim of a ransomware attack. The backups should include local, offsite, and cloud backups to ensure you cover all bases.
We also advise that you test your backups to ensure they are uncorrupted, that malicious actors have not altered the data, and the data is recoverable. Testing backups requires you to complete test restorations of a file, server image, or database, and can prove the effectiveness of your disaster recovery process.
Utilize Antivirus and Anti-Ransomware Tools
As well as regular backups, modern endpoint protection can be beneficial for protecting devices from ransomware. This kind of protection continuously monitors and controls the network traffic to spot malicious activity.
It is also a good idea to invest in managed threat detection and response (MDR) solutions, since such services are more comprehensive than traditional signature-based antivirus software. They pinpoint subtle anomalies in the network and facilitate proactive threat hunting to mitigate sophisticated ransomware attacks.
Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Besides protecting your network, it’s important to remediate other system weaknesses such as only having a password to protect software, apps, accounts, and networks. Multi-factor authentication can provide an extra layer of protection, taking the form of a code from an authenticator app or a push notification.
Applying these to your email accounts, VPN networks, admin accounts, cloud services, and more can make it difficult for cybercriminals to gain unauthorized access to your system and minimize the chance of account takeovers. For instance, even if an email account password is stolen, cyber attackers won’t be able to log in if they don’t have the code from a mobile app.
Limit Access and Privileges
Alongside multi-factor authentication, you can limit access to some networks, applications, or company data according to the roles of some individuals within your organization, which can minimize unauthorized access to these parts of the system. You can do this with role-based access control (RBAC) policies, which requires you to define RBAC in the specific service or application’s configuration.
It’s important to avoid giving admin rights unless absolutely necessary. It helps you reinforce the idea of “least privilege”, meaning only specific individuals can access critical data, preventing ransomware from spreading between your company’s systems.
Prepare a Response Plan
If you are targeted, and become a victim of a ransomware attack, specific steps are important and you will need to have a response plan ready. You will need to limit the damage with the following immediate steps:
Isolate infected systems – Containing the infected systems can help you prevent a further breach. To do this, disconnect the device from the network and the wireless connections.
Report the incident – Reach out to local law enforcement and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre as well as the employees included in your incident response plan.
Find the source of the ransomware – Try to determine the source or entry point of the ransomware, which can help you create additional methods to improve security practices.
Use a decryption tool or wipe the device – Decryption tools such as No More Ransom, Emsisoft, Avast, Trend Micro, and others help you decrypt the malware. But they may not be available for your strain of ransomware. In this case, wipe the device and install the operating system again.
Contact IT support – IT support companies such as Tech Masters can assist you and ensure your systems remain threat-free. Contact us and arrange your consultation to keep your SMB protected from cyber attackers.
Should You Consider a Managed Security Service?
What is also ideal about IT support companies is that they offer 24/7 monitoring and fast threat responses. This is ideal for your SMB if you lack an internal security team.
If you also need to ensure your systems and data management aligns with compliance requirements, such as the personal information protection and electronic data act (PIPEDA) and want to reduce risk exposure, managed security services are a good idea.
Keep Your SMB Protected from Ransomware with Tech Masters
Reputation risks, a breach of PIPEDA regulations, and client mistrust can be the result of ransomware attacks, but simple steps can mitigate major damage.
If you require support to ensure your company is protected from ransomware, reach out to a reliable IT provider such as Tech Masters. Contact us and let our expert team assess your SMB’s cybersecurity readiness.