Are Your Computers Protected from Ransomware?

The pandemic has ushered in several swift changes for businesses and organizations alike, from an emphasis on work-from-home or hybrid work environments to a greater need for strategies to tackle digital transformation. This movement of business towards an increasingly digital presence — from greater reliance on cloud-based tools to a proliferation of unsecured endpoints — has exponentially broadened the attack surface for hackers. 

Cybercriminals have developed more aggressive methods to launch targeted attacks. The deployment of ransomware reached new heights with a 158% rise in North America alone — and 62% on a global scale. Newer, more disruptive malware such as Ryuk ransomware and never-before-seen variants are escalating in prevalence and even Microsoft Office files are now being used to embed malware and disseminate malicious phishing URLs.  

With the emphasis on a remote, hybrid, or at least more mobile-oriented workforce, sharing files safely and securely is an essential element of business continuity. To ensure your business is proactively protected, you must have a robust cybersecurity plan in place that includes protection from ransomware. 

3 Smart Features of Solid Ransomware Protection  

Ransomware, malicious software that encrypts your data so your business can’t have access until you pay a ransom, is on the rise. Victims range from private citizens and small businesses to multi-million-dollar corporations, so no one’s valuable data is safe.  

Unless. 

Those organizations that invest in a strong cybersecurity program, typically handled by a fully-fledged in-house IT team or a Managed IT provider, can help keep their data safe from harm — and their business continuity on track. 

But all ransomware protection is not created equal. To ensure you have the right cybersecurity tools for the job, make sure your IT team of Managed Services Provider (MSP) uses protection that provides the following:

1. Features That Prevent Exploitation

Exploit prevention is the process of keeping hackers from exploiting weaknesses in commonly used, legitimate software such as Microsoft Office and using them to gain access to your data. More than 90% of data breaches feature this kind of exploitation somewhere along the chain of events.  

Your ransomware protection should feature one — or more — of the following tools to prevent exploitation from occurring: 

• Enforce Data Execution Prevention (DEP) 
• Mandatory Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) 
• Bottom-up ASLR 
• Null Dereference Protection 
• Heap Spray Pre-Allocation 
• Dynamic Heap Spray 
• Stack Pivot 
• Stack Exec 
• Stack-based ROP Mitigation 

Others, such as overwrite protection and table access filtering, are also important to keep cybercriminals from infiltrating your infrastructure using software-based inroads.

2. Endpoint Protection

More businesses than ever are experiencing a new way of working — with some or all their employees working remotely or on the go. That makes endpoint detection and response (EDR) a critical element of any good ransomware protection program. EDR functions to: 

• Collect, monitor, and secure data on suspicious activity at endpoints 
• Analyze the data to uncover threat patterns 
• Respond to threats immediately and/or notify the appropriate security personnel 

In addition, a strong EDR will also include forensic tools that can help your team further analyze potential threats and stay abreast of suspicious activities.

3. Adaptive Learning

Cybercriminals are creating new threat vectors every day, so the threat landscape is always changing. True protection comes with having the tools to stay one step ahead of the criminals using the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning techniques. 

A deep learning-based neural network will give your business the ability to detect not only known malware signatures but those evolving threats that have yet to be identified. 

Trust RJ Young to Provide Leading-Edge Ransomware Protection 

At first, glance, finding the right ransomware protection might seem confusing, especially if you don’t have access to an in-house IT team. That’s why RJ Young has partnered with Sophos, the leader in ransomware protection technology, to make it easy for our clients to secure their data and get the protection they need to stay ahead of evolving threats. 

“Our team of Managed IT professionals can provide an in-depth assessment of your current infrastructure and help you identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses. Then, we can design — and deploy— a comprehensive state-of-the-art cybersecurity program that will keep your data, your business, your reputation, and your bottom line safe and secure,” said Harris Delchamps, technology solutions sales manager.

Get hard-hitting state-of-the-art cybersecurity protection. Touch base with an RJ Young consultant today and discover how our team and partners can keep your business safe from ransomware.