Governing Ransomware Risk for Small Businesses
By now, you’ve almost certainly heard about ransomware — a form of cyber-attack in which hackers encrypt systems, steal data then demand a ransom payment to end the attack. While ransomware has been around for a while now, attackers have started setting their sights on bigger and bigger targets, gaining international media attention in the process.
But the reason businesses should be paying attention to ransomware is not because big corporations are shelling out millions of dollars in ransom payments. Instead, when you look at the bigger picture, small businesses are the ones who will continue to bear the brunt of these attacks. According to the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, there has been a 300% increase in ransomware attacks in the past year and 50-70% of those attacks were directed against small and medium sized businesses. And while a cyberattack is tough for any businesses to recover from, the threat ransomware poses to small businesses is existential, with 60% of small businesses failing within 6 months of a cyber-attack.
Because the threat is so big and the stakes are so high, governing ransomware risk needs to be a top priority for small businesses. And in order to protect your organization, there are two vital areas that need to be focused on: systems controls and organizational culture.
Systems Controls
1. Endpoint detection and response
Endpoint detection and response (EDR) is a type of security software that actively monitors endpoints like phones, laptops and other devices in order to identify any activity that could be malicious or threatening. Once a potential threat is identified, EDR will automatically respond by getting rid of or containing the threat and notifying your security or IT team. EDR is vital today in order to stay on top of potential threats and put a stop to them before they can cause any damage.
2. Hardening your RDP Ports
Remote Desktop protocol is a tool that allows someone to connect to a computer remotely. This can be useful, but more and more ransomware attackers are using RDP ports to gain access to victims’ systems. Organization that do not actively use RDP should therefore consider disabling the feature or limiting to users and devices that are not connected to public internet.
3. Back-ups
Having a back-up of your systems could allow you to regain access to your data without having to pay the ransom. However, it’s essential to have an effective back up strategy in order to ensure the attackers don’t steal your backups along with everything else. At minimum, at least one backup should be stored offsite. You should also utilize different credentials for each copy of your back-up. Finally, you should regularly test your back-ups to ensure you will be able to quickly and effectively get your systems online if an attack happens.
Multi-Factor Authentication
Lastly, using multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a simple yet powerful tool for stopping the bad guys from using stolen credentials. At minimum, any user accessing your network should be using MFA. In addition, all users with administrative privileges need to use MFA, whether they are accessing your network remotely or on premise.
Don’t Forget Culture
When it comes to governing ransomware risk, the best way to prevent attacks is to focus on creating a culture that incorporates cyber-secure behaviors into every day practices. However, the biggest issue many organizations face when creating a cybersecure culture is sustaining those behaviors overtime. In order to properly govern ransomware risk, behavior change requires 4 essential elements:
1. Consistent Communication
We get it, cybersecurity can be confusing. And as the threat landscape changes, so do our cybersecurity policies. That’s why it’s so important that business leadership consistently communicate with their employees about the behaviors you want to see.
2. Make it Easy
When thinking about the behaviors you want employees to adopt, it’s vital you make these behaviors as easy as possible to do. Everyone is being pulled in a million different directions at once, so if an employee has to take 10 minutes out of their day to figure out how to report a phish, they aren’t going to follow through. If, however, you provide a simple and easy-to-use process, you’re going to have a much easier time getting employees to adopt new behaviors.
3. Help People feel Successful
People want to feel like the work they are doing is making a difference. If they feel like what they are doing just doesn’t really matter all that much, there isn’t going to be much motivation to continue doing it. That’s why it’s so important to help people feel successful when they follow through on the behaviors you want to see. Providing positive feedback, for example, can go a long way towards creating behavior change. If your employees know their work is being recognized and feel it makes a difference, they will be much more likely to keep it up.
4.Walking the Walk
The above three elements for creating sustained behavior change have one thing in common: you. A leadership team can’t simply talk the talk. Change starts at the top and requires you and your leadership team take an active role ensuring these behaviors become a part of the organizational culture and value structure.
There’s no doubt that ransomware poses a big threat to small businesses, and the best thing you can do govern the risks of attack is focusing on creating a culture in which cybersecurity is valued and acted upon every single day.
