Ransomware Makes Backup a Necessity

Your business relies on its data to succeed, which lends itself to the fact that your organization needs to have some sort of security measures put into place to guarantee its safety. 2018 is thought to be the year of ransomware, so it stands to reason that your business should prepare to deal with it. One of the best ways to deal with ransomware is to make sure that your company has a plan to restore data affected by said ransomware.

Explaining Ransomware
Perhaps one of the most brutal developing threats, ransomware is a type of malware that can encrypt the files found on a device so that they’re inaccessible by the user. The instigator of the attack will then demand payment for the files to be decrypted. Thanks to the notoriety and relative success of ransomware campaigns like Petya, WannaCry, and Cryptolocker, these types of attack are on the rise.

The Future
Ransomware will only continue to increase in popularity throughout the rest of 2018. One of the key focal points for ransomware-using cybercriminals is efficiency, as well as creating initiatives and campaigns that will work throughout the year. 2017 saw the rise of readily available ransomware kits that allowed anyone to implement ransomware without knowing the technical details behind it. There were even ransomware-for-hire services offered to those who wanted to use it without going all-in on the campaign themselves. Either way, the end result was to make ransomware more accessible for those who wanted to take advantage of it. It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that ransomware will use more advanced technologies in the future, as well. Artificial intelligence and machine learning could potentially allow for more effective means of ransomware distribution, which could become a bigger problem down the line.

But Ransomware Isn’t the Only Issue
There is much more out there than just ransomware, though. The most dangerous threats are often the office mainstays. Your business’ data will always be at risk due to its users--the ones who rely on it most. Even if they don’t intentionally put the data in harm’s way, the end result is the same. All it takes is one accidental deleting of important data to throw your business out of whack.

Despite the overwhelming odds stacked against you, it’s just as likely that your organization will suffer from a hardware failure as a hacking attack--perhaps even more likely, as there are some circumstances beyond your control regarding hardware failure. If a natural disaster strikes, for example, there’s little you could do to actually stop a hurricane or a power surge.

Solving the Problem
The best way to prevent unexpected troubles like a natural disaster, data breach, or hardware failure is to implement a data backup and disaster recovery solution from Washington Works. We can provide you with a solution that can regularly update backups and make changes to them as often as every fifteen minutes. This minimizes data loss and allows you to restore backups within a moment’s notice.

To learn more, reach out to us at 301-571-5040.