Safekeeping: 5 tips for protecting against ransomware

It’s 2023, and the digital explosion has taken Aussie corporations to astronomical levels of success. And, whilst the digital era has been incredible for business, it does come with its own set of challenges, namely cyber threats.

You know the ones: hackers, malware and, ugh, ransomware, that nasty little attack that puts you at the mercy of some unscrupulous internet characters, otherwise known as “bad actors”.

The last thing you want is to be at the beck-and-call of these conniving con artists, so here are five tips to protect your business from ransomware attacks:

⦁ Ensure you always have updated backups

Maintaining current backups and having the best data restoration Canberra has are two of the easiest ways to protect yourself from the nasty results of an attack. You should always have a backup of your files, and there are plenty of options available at your disposal regardless of your organizations size and scale!

You simply have to implement a backup plan, the main element of which is deciding just how often you should create backups. Reduced space between backups means reduced downtime and data loss due to a ransomware attack.

⦁ Avoid email attachments from random senders

Email attachments are one of the sneakiest ways to infect a business with ransomware. So, the last thing you should do is open an email from a suspicious sender. Word to the wise: if in 2023 you think it seems dodgy it likely is, and so avoiding suspicious attachments from random senders is one of the easiest ways to avoid a nasty infection.

You can always contact the sender to ensure that your address is, in fact, the one they were sending, and if you are at work and the email seems a little sus, do not hesitate to call over the IT team to take a look at the situation!

⦁ Avoid suspicious sites

Certain websites are dangerous – they are just made to infect your system with ransomware! We should all be cautious when surfing the net, as dodgy websites including file sharing, gaming and other free file downloads can infect your system with ransomware before you have the chance to do a thing about it.

Ransomware can be hidden under scripts and web banners found within a website. If you simply have to visit a particular site for work purposes, ensure that your computer is updated with the very best antivirus software in the game – it just might save you in the event of an attack.

⦁ Keep your system & software updated

Cyber criminals love nothing more than infecting outdated computer software and systems – it’s their bread and butter. You can thwart them in their attempts by regularly downloading and installing security patches and updates.

Furthermore, you should regularly update your antivirus software and keep your security systems well-maintained. The more frequently you update your services the harder it is for cyber criminals to attack your system as these systems are designed to detect and protect against malicious content.

⦁ Keep your passwords secure

Traditional hacking methods are often used to inflict this kind of nasty cyberattack. These criminals only need a whiff of your security information and they can go to town on your system, putting you in their pocket and creating a serious problem for your organization.

As such, be sure that your passwords are regularly updated and that they are incredibly hard to hack – this could be the complete difference between copping a nasty attack or not!