You might have heard of cyber threats such as ransomware as a business owner—they’re capable of causing serious issues for your company, impacting computer systems and leading to a range of other severe consequences.
Frequent data backups, in this case, are ideal; we highly recommend them since they’re simple and effective approaches that keep data protected. So, in our article today, we’re going to discuss exactly how data backups can help minimize the impact of ransomware.
What Ransomware Is
When defining ransomware, it’s best described as a type of malware; it’s capable of blocking access to your computer system, and only when you have paid a sum of money to a cybercriminal can you recover access to it. It can deny your organization access to files as well.
Now, a few ransomware variants exist. Here, we’ll look at a couple of types of ransomware:
- Crypto-ransomware: This type of malware encrypts data on the victim’s device and locks it to ensure the user cannot access files on the computer. It is used as a means to extort funds in the form of cryptocurrency from the computer system’s user.
- Locker ransomware: Unlike crypto-ransomware, the locker type can have greater consequences. It can lock the files on a computer as well as the device itself, which can severely affect business continuity.
Ransomware attacks are also on the rise. 28% of respondents to a GetCyberSafe survey stated that their organization was the victim of a successful ransomware attack in 2024—this is an increase of 11% since 2021.
How Ransomware Affects Organizations
There are several consequences of ransomware that your organization needs to be aware of. First, as mentioned, they can affect your company financially, and the payments and recovery costs can be incredibly expensive. For instance, according to StatCan, 4% of Canadian businesses paid more than $500,000 to recover access to their computer systems.
But there are other effects of ransomware to consider, including reputational damage, a lack of customer trust, and operational disruption:
- Customer trust and reputational damage: It’s because of data loss and the potential for cybercriminals to access sensitive data through ransomware that this attack can affect customer trust. Customers may view your organization as irresponsible if you fail to protect their data, and if sensitive information is accessed in the process of a ransomware attack, this can damage your organization’s reputation.
- Regulatory breach: When data is accessed through this type of cyberattack, it also breaches the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), which states that companies need to protect all personal information they collect.
- Operational disruption: Without access to computer systems due to such cyberattacks, organizations become less productive—their operations come to a halt, and the company can lose money when their output is lower than usual.
Why Data Backups are Critical
It’s with data backups that your organization can defend itself against such cyberattacks. Data backups, as the name suggests, are processes in which companies back up data by creating a copy of the data from one location to another.
There are several different data backup types and storage options your company can utilize when you want to copy the data. The types of data backup include full, incremental, and differential, while the storage types include cloud and local. Let’s consider each of these in more detail.
- Full backup: This is a comprehensive backup which allows you to copy and send all of your company and customers’ data from one location to another.
- Incremental backup: This is a backup that makes copies of the files that you have altered in the time between the last backup and the present.
- Differential backup: This is a backup that makes copies of the files that you have altered in the time between the last full backup and the present.
- Cloud storage: Cloud storage is storage known as an off-site cloud-based server. In making a copy of the data and sending it to this server, you store it in a remote location that will not be affected by physical damage.
- Local storage: Local storage is storage such as a flash drive or external hard drive that is typically located on site near the data source. The process involves transferring the data to your preferred external drive and copying it from your network or computer.
When completing such processes, keep in mind that regular backups are critical—regular backups can minimize the effects of ransomware attacks because companies can recover their files and restore their operations quickly. They’ll not need to pay a sum of money to recover the files in this case because they already have access to them through the backup.
Data Backup Best Practices
Now, when you want to complete a backup, we recommend several best practices. You’ll require a backup strategy, which can include assessing the data, determining the scope of your dataset, thinking about how often to back up the data, and choosing an appropriate data backup solution.
You’ll need to prioritize critical data such as financial records or personal data and then determine whether a local or cloud backup is appropriate. Cloud backups are easier to execute and can even be automated.
What’s also critical is considering the frequency of the backups—this is going to depend on data volatility or how frequently you update the data. So, if you’re updating data in real-time, an hourly or daily backup is ideal. Other types of data that you update less frequently may just require a weekly or even a monthly backup.
We also advise that regularly testing the backup process is fundamental. Such tests help you know that the data restoring process is successful. Testing this process involves creating copies of the critical data, storing it in the backup location, and testing the integrity of the backup by simulating various data loss scenarios. You can delete the selected data and then complete the restore process by accessing the backup storage to complete this test.
Other Prevention Strategies for Ransomware
There are a few other prevention strategies that will help your company evade these cyberattacks. It’s crucial to educate employees on the dangers of phishing, which is linked to ransomware attacks. Informing employees about the consequences of sharing sensitive information through deceptive emails or clicking malicious links can raise awareness of these dangers.
It’s also important to ensure all operating systems and software are kept up to date, and you should also use firewalls and antivirus software, as these steps can ensure your systems are protected against vulnerabilities.
Contact Tech Masters for Cybersecurity Solutions and Managed IT Service Support
Being prepared for ransomware attacks is critical since this malware is on the rise, and it’s with the right security measures that you can protect your company’s operating system, reduce the risks of data loss, and mitigate financial consequences. Combining backups with cloud computing is ideal in this context.
If you’re trying to refine your cybersecurity solutions, your network security, or the security of your data, we recommend regular backups. Our IT services company in Edmonton and Western Canada can support you with these processes. We offer the right security solutions to keep your company data protected. Contact Tech Masters for cybersecurity solutions today. Protect your data and your operating systems with expert support.
