Top Tools for Proper Ransomware Defense
Ed Tech Magazine recently released three major tools the education sector must have to effectively block ransomware from executing on their systems. Although Ed Tech was specifically focusing on the educational vertical, these tips can be used in any industry.
The three “must haves” include application whitelisting, endpoint protection, and patch management. But why?
Reports suggest application whitelisting’s approach to security has been proven more effective in blocking today’s cyber security threats, including ransomware. The approach, also known as a default-deny approach, will only allow known trusted programs to execute on the device. Therefore, effectively and efficiently blocking polymorphic viruses, zero-day attacks, ransomware, and more.
The second suggested tool is endpoint protection. Often times, endpoint protection does not include application whitelisting. Unfortunately, several security solution providers are stuck in the archaic times of blacklisting, or keeping a record of all known malicious threats — then allowing everything else to run. This worked years ago when new malicious attacks weren’t being created every minute. Now, this method is obsolete. Fortunately, there is a security solution that does already include an application whitelist approach.
Lastly is patch management. Ensuring the operating system and all third-party applications are updated will patch all known security vulnerabilities within these programs. Often times, if these programs are not patched timely, hackers will exploit the known vulnerabilities to execute the malicious activity.
In addition to these three tools, PC Matic Pro would also encourage users to do the following:
- Conduct timely backups, and store them on either an external device or on a cloud-based platform.
- Employ multi-layer authentication to access your networks.
- Audit administrative rights and remove employees who do not need the privileges to conduct daily work duties.
