There’s no doubt that ransomware is a growing threat to businesses of all sizes. In fact, a recent study by Symantec found that ransomware attacks increased by 36% in 2017. And with the average ransom demand now totaling $679,698, it’s clear that these attacks can have a devastating financial impact on companies. That’s why it’s more important than ever for businesses to have a robust disaster recovery solution in place.
What is ransomware?
Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts a company’s data and then demands a ransom be paid in order to decrypt it. In most cases, the attackers will demand payment in Bitcoin, as this allows them to remain anonymous. Once the ransom is paid, the attackers will provide the victim with a decryption key that can be used to unlock their data.
However, there is no guarantee that the attacker will actually provide the decryption key once the ransom is paid. In fact, there have been numerous reports of businesses paying the ransom only to find out that their data was not actually decrypted. This leaves them in a very difficult position, as they now have to weigh the cost of paying the ransom against the cost of rebuilding their data from scratch.
How can managed backups help?
One way to protect your business from ransomware is to have a robust backup and disaster recovery solution in place. This will ensure that you have a copy of your data that can be used to restore your systems in the event of an attack.
There are six things to keep in mind when choosing a backup solution:
- Make sure that your backups are stored offline. This will prevent the attackers from being able to encrypt them as well.
- Use a reputable backup service that offers good security and encryption. This will help to protect your data even if the worst does happen and your backups are compromised.
- Test your backups regularly to make sure that they are working properly. This will give you the peace of mind of knowing that you can actually restore your data if you need to.
- Have a plan in place for how you will restore your data in the event of an attack. This should be tested regularly as well to make sure that it will work when you need it.
- Keep your backups up to date. This will ensure that you have the most recent copy of your data, which can be critical if you need to restore your systems quickly.
- Make sure that you have multiple backups in different locations. This will help to protect your data even if one of the backups is lost or destroyed.
Managed backups are a vital part of any disaster recovery plan and can help to protect your business from the devastating effects of ransomware. By making sure that your data is backed up and stored securely, you can rest assured that you will be able to quickly recover from an attack and get your business back up and running.