Tips for SMBS: What to do before, during, and after a ransomware attack

OVER three years after the infamous Wannacry ransomware, its costly aftermath still remains a vivid glimpse on the damage cybercriminals can do by kidnapping companies’ essential data. And such threats remain.

Global cybersecurity brand Kaspersky’s latest statistics for small and medium businesses (SMBS) in Southeast Asia (SEA) show that in the first three months of the year, the company’s solutions have blocked a total of 269,204 ransomware attempts against businesses in the region with a total of 20 to 250 employees.

“While the total number of ransomware attempts detected in the region is 69 percent lower compared with the same period last year, the risks of SMBS and enterprises losing their data and their cash because of this threat is still ever-present. The good news is that there are effective ways to protect SMB’S much-needed cash flow from becoming payment to get their kidnapped data back,” says Yeo Siang Tiong, general manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky (www.kaspersky.com).

As more economies in Southeast Asia re-open following months in lockdown, Kaspersky’s experts have several important and useful tips for restarting business safe from ransomware threat.

BEFORE A RANSOMWARE ATTACK

■ BACK-UP, BACK-UP, BACK-UP. Always have fresh back-up copies of your files so you can replace them in case they are lost (e.g. due to malware or a broken device) and store them not only on the physical object but also in cloud storage for greater reliability. Make sure you can quickly access them in an emergency when needed.

■ EDUCATE YOUR EMPLOYEES. Build a shared sense of responsibility inside your company. Explain to your employees how following simple rules can help a company avoid ransomware incidents. Create employee and operational control policies that cover aspects of network management and facilities, including password renewal regulations, incident handling, access control rules, protecting sensitive data and more.

■ LAYERED SECURITY IN EVERYTHING. Literally everything. Security means safeguarding all data touchpoints within your network, may it be via hardware devices or software platforms.

■ UPDATE, UPDATE, UPDATE. It is essential to install all security updates as soon as they become available. Always update your operating system and software to eliminate recent vulnerabilities.

■ USE A RANSOMWARE TOOL. SMBS can also try a free Kaspersky Anti-ransomware Tool for Business. Its recently updated version contains an exploit prevention feature to prevent ransomware and other threats from exploiting vulnerabilities in software and applications. It is also helpful for customers that use Windows 7: with the end of support of Windows 7, new vulnerabilities in this system won’t be patched by the developer.

DURING AND AFTER A RANSOMWARE ATTACK

■ UNBLOCK YOUR COMPUTER; REMOVE THE MALWARE. If you find your computer blocked—it won’t load the operating system— use Kaspersky Windowsunlocker, a free utility that can remove a blocker and get Windows to boot. Cryptors are a harder nut to crack. First, you need to get rid of the malware by running an antivirus scan. If you don’t have a proper antivirus on your computer, download a free trial version of an antivirus app.

■ DON’T PAY, DO REPORT. Remember that ransomware is a criminal offense. Do not pay the amount the perpetrators are asking in exchange for your data. If you become a victim, report it to your local law enforcement agency.

■ GET YOUR FILES BACK; LOOK FOR A DECRYPTOR. If you have a backup copy of your files, you can simply restore your files from the backup. That is by far your best shot. If you haven’t made backups, you can try to decrypt files by using special utilities called decryptors. All of the free decryptors created by Kaspersky can be found at noransom.kaspersky.com.

■ INVOLVE THE EXPERTS. If the decryptor is not available online, contact your trusted cybersecurity vendor to check if they have a decryption tool for the ransomware that has attacked you.