Intermedia news
Warning: When it comes to ransomware, SMBs are at greater risk (new data)
As noted in part 2 of our Data Vulnerability Report, all organizations and employees should be aware of the dangers that hackers present to your data. Why has ransomware turned into a $5B industry for cybercriminals? Simply put, because it works and because no one is immune.
SMBs: ransomware education should be at the top of your list because the threat is in many cases greater for you. Let’s look at why.
Why are SMBs at such risk for ransomware attacks?
I posed this question to our CTO, Jonathan Levine, and he had this to share:
“Ransomware is a very real threat to organizations of all sizes and types. This is especially true for SMBs that may not have the resources, tools, or training that larger organizations use to recognize, prevent and protect themselves from such attacks. More often than not, SMBs feel forced to pay a ransom they can’t, but must, afford. And hackers realize this.”
A company can crumble at the hand of one infected computer, and ransomware tends to hit multiple users at once. In fact, our 2016 Crypto-Ransomware Report found that 75% of ransomware outbreaks affected three or more people, and 47% of outbreaks spread to at least 20 people. Don’t panic though.
What should be done about ransomware?
There are several things that SMBs can do to better protect themselves from the devastation of a ransomware attack, that don’t require an abundance of internal resources.
- First, educate, educate, educate. Education helps employees build their confidence around identifying an attack. But as these efforts continue to grow in sophistication, education about what to do if you are hit is of equal importance. For instance, 59% of impacted employees made the choice to pay the ransom themselves. Make sure your employees understand the dangers of dealing with cybercriminals directly! You cannot let shame or lack of knowledge lead your employees to personally be paying ransoms, let alone paying them period.
- That leads me to my next point – there is a better way. With proper planning, you can avoid paying the ransom altogether by installing a continuous backup product such as Intermedia’s SecuriSync®. With the proper technology in place, you could be back up and running after an attack within minutes versus days or weeks.
Check out part 2 of Intermedia’s Data Vulnerability Report on ransomware, including resources on prevention and a step-by-step guide to recovery.
Have questions? We’re in this together! Call one of our experts to discuss ransomware at 800-379-7729.
