To Help Prevent Ransomware and Other Threats, Trust Nothing

Ransomware is a serious issue for modern businesses of all sizes, many experiencing attacks on a fairly regular basis—and that’s before we factor in all the other cyberthreats that a business could likely have to contend with, and the fact that those responsible for these threats are getting craftier in how they spread them. Today, there’s a good argument to be made that the best approach to security is to trust no one and nothing… without verification, at the very least.

This approach to cybersecurity is appropriately known as zero-trust. Let’s consider what is required to adopt such an approach, using the example of an attempted ransomware attack.

Ransomware is Prevalent Enough to Require Consistent Vigilance

When surveys measure that ransomware infections impacted three-quarters of professional organizations in the last year, it should be clear that ransomware is not something to be taken lightly. It also doesn’t help that protecting yourself from its effects isn’t easy. Not only is it remarkably easy to accidentally let a ransomware infection in, the problems that ransomware brings tend to escalate significantly as time passes.

Some of the issues that ransomware brings to your attention include:

• From the onset of the infection, ransomware eliminates at least a portion of your business’ potential productivity, if not all of it.
• In addition to locking your data out of your reach, many responsible for ransomware will also steal your data before encrypting it, selling it on the Dark Web or putting it to use toward their own nefarious purposes.
• If the ransom isn’t paid within the timeframe, the cybercriminal will leave the data encrypted… but they may do that, even if the ransom is paid.
• Meanwhile, your business’ reputation is floundering as your services aren’t being delivered and your audience is suffering, with their personal information potentially being exposed.
• You’re also likely to receive some unwelcome attention from various regulatory bodies, with fines and other serious penalties involved. 

Naturally, this isn’t something you want your business to have to deal with if it can be helped. Fortunately, a zero-trust approach to security does help.

Zero-Trust Security is the Practical Application of the Principle of Least Privilege

As a security philosophy, rather than a single, specific solution, a zero-trust approach involves every safeguard and protection you have to defend your business and its data. It means you have visibility into who is connecting to your network and accessing what, restricting this access behind role-based rules and privileges and ensuring you are monitoring your systems so you can enforce the standards you’ve implemented.

In the case of ransomware and various other threats to your business, the measures that go into a zero-trust methodology could very well prevent the infection from accessing your system at all.

Trust BNMC to Help You Implement and Manage a Zero-Trust Policy

We take cybersecurity very seriously, and bake security into everything we do. To ensure that your business is prepared for the future of online threats, give us a call today at (978) 482-2020.