Breaking Down Modern Ransomware Attacks and What You Need to Successfully Recover

Modern businesses face a never-ending list of obstacles when scaling their organizations. If it’s not the increasingly competitive nature of today’s industries or quickly shifting customer needs, it’s the new and increasingly dangerous cyber threats looming around every corner.

Digital threats pose a serious risk to organizations that aren’t adequately prepared, especially considering the destructive power of ransomware attacks. Becoming a victim of sophisticated malware like ransomware can quickly bring an organization to its knees, leaving it struggling to maintain its financial stability and brand reputation.

This is why it’s critical to remain keenly aware of how this cyberattack operates and what can be done if your business falls victim to it.

The Growth of Ransomware Attacks

For many organizations, cybersecurity planning and execution can feel like an uphill climb. Each passing year makes it even harder for security teams to keep up with advancing threats. Because of this, preventing or recovering from ransom attacks continues to be a formidable challenge for many businesses. 

A Stastista report released just one year ago revealed a disturbing reality about the prevalence of ransomware across all industries and sectors. The report showed that 71% of global organizations had encountered ransomware in some capacity. More alarmingly, though, nearly 63% of the affected businesses felt they had no other choice but to pay the hefty ransom amounts.

These staggering statistics are why ransomware has become a favored tactic for cybercriminals. Since many modern organizations can’t withstand prolonged operational disruptions, paying their ransom “seems” the most economical solution, although there are no guarantees they’ll ever gain access to their lost data.

How Does Ransomware Hold a System Hostage?

Although ransomware first started making waves online, it was quite rare and limited in severity due to supporting technology limitations. Today’s ransomware attacks are a very different story. Ransomware has become a highly evolved and sophisticated form of malware that uses powerful computing capabilities to exploit network and system vulnerabilities in most businesses.

The core mechanism of a ransomware attack is its ability to quickly spread throughout a network of connected systems, locate valuable digital assets, and encrypt them so they cannot be accessed. It does this by using an incredibly strong asymmetric encryption method that is nearly impossible to crack without a generated encryption key that only the cyber attacker has.

Considering how the current IT landscape is constructed, with many organizations adopting public and hybrid cloud models, digital footprints have expanded significantly over the years. This expansion, coupled with outdated security methods, creates a number of potential entry points for malicious actors.

What is Required Today to Keep Businesses Safe?

Considering how aggressive and successful modern ransomware attacks are becoming, it’s important for businesses to implement proactive cybersecurity strategies to help mitigate their risks. 

Below are some of the essential elements organizations should be looking to implement when improving their cybersecurity readiness:

Strong Access Controls

With many organizations now relying on a decentralized workforce to help manage and scale their operations, maintaining strong access controls has become critical. 

This involves establishing strict password policies, putting into place multi-factor authentication, and providing users with the necessary access levels they need to perform their duties.

Anti-Intrusion Systems

Having an anti-intrusion system integrated into your security initiatives is essential for monitoring suspicious network traffic and having automated tools and solutions that can help isolate and address potentially dangerous anomalies. 

These systems can also be implemented with next-generation firewalls that are more advanced and capable of identifying new, more sophisticated attack vectors.

Email Security Solutions

Emails are still one of the most effective entry points for cyber attackers. Today, simply opening up a malicious email attachment can be enough to completely disable an organization, which is why investing in a robust email security solution is a wise choice for most businesses. 

These active solutions scan and filter out dangerous phishing emails and quarantine dangerous malware files, adding another important layer of defense.

Vulnerability Assessments

Knowing what vulnerabilities your business currently has is important for prioritizing the right improvements. Conducting a vulnerability assessment with penetration testing services and formal security audits can be invaluable investments in helping to avoid a dangerous cyber attack. 

Additionally, pursuing various security certifications for your business, such as HITRUST or PCI DSS, helps to demonstrate to customers and key stakeholders the organization’s commitment to maintaining the highest security standards. 

What Should Businesses Do to Improve Their Chances For Successful Ransomware Recovery?

The unfortunate reality is that even with the most sophisticated security measures in place, the possibility of a successful ransomware attack can’t be completely ruled out. However, this doesn’t mean that your businesses can’t adequately prepare for this situation occurring.

Below are some strategies you can put in place now to help ensure a smooth and efficient recovery if a ransomware attack were to occur:

Consider Investing in Cybersecurity Insurance

If a business isn’t adequately prepared to fend off a ransomware attack, they may often feel compelled to pay the ransom being demanded since the cost to rebuild their systems is too costly. 

Unfortunately, this approach often backfires, with reports that only roughly 60% of organizations paying ransomware attackers are actually able to recover their data after payment. Investing in cybersecurity insurance can be a much better solution for many businesses. This provides a financial cushion that can be quickly accessed and used for infrastructure reinvestments or hiring a security team for recovery initiatives.

Implement a Disaster Recovery Plan

A well-documented and up-to-date disaster recovery plan is key to surviving a successful ransomware attack. Outside of documenting necessary recovery workflows, it should also document detailed team actions, stakeholders who will drive the recovery initiatives, and any necessary support systems.

Regular training on the plan equips employees to respond quickly while helping the organization minimize downtime and long-term financial impact on the business.

Create Partnerships With Trusted Managed Service Providers

Many businesses have limited staffing and the necessary skills to tackle evolving cybersecurity threats. This is where managed service providers (MSPs) can help.

MSPs provide expertise in disaster recovery, threat discovery, and managing cloud backups. Partnering with MSPs allows you to access on-demand security skills and resources when needed and can be a great way to strengthen an organization’s defense against ransomware.

Keep Your Organization Prepared

The fight against cybercrime will probably never end, but this doesn’t mean your business needs to be vulnerable. By staying informed about emerging threats, collaborating with industry experts, and prioritizing your recovery planning efforts, you’ll ensure your business doesn’t become another statistic by creating more resilience.