A ransomware attack costs the typical organization an average of $4.54 million dollars. And that number only continues to grow. Attacks are also becoming more sophisticated, further increasing the need for comprehensive enterprise ransomware protection. Unfortunately, many organizations still leave gaps in their security protocols, which can pose catastrophic risks to both their finances and their reputations. Is your organization one of them?
Only by applying a robust and comprehensive approach to ransomware protection can your organization minimize its chances of becoming another statistic. Here’s what you need to know about enterprise ransomware protection, what your organization may be getting wrong, and what you can do to better protect your data.
What is Ransomware?
Ransomware is a form of malware designed to hijack a device and render any data it contains unusable through encryption. Perpetrators then hold the encrypted data hostage and demand a ransom payment in order to decrypt the data.
Ransomware attacks are most commonly introduced through email phishing, with more than 92% of all malware being delivered in this manner. Additionally, the rise of ransomware-as-a-service has made launching ransomware attacks even easier for cybercriminals, further exacerbating the problem.
What Organizations Get Wrong About Enterprise Ransomware Protection
The ever-changing nature of ransomware requires organizations to stay up-to-date on the latest security threats. However, many companies lack adequate policies and procedures to deal with threats. Most commonly, organizations either implement incomplete solutions or ignore the problem completely. In either case, the results on an organization’s finances and reputation can be disastrous.
Despite the fact that ransomware can take hospitals offline, shutdown utilities or cause millions of dollars of damage, many organizations choose to ignore the problem and simply hope they won’t be targeted. Given that ransomware attacks only continue to rise year after year, failure to implement adequate security measures leaves organizations with a ticking time bomb.
Common reasons companies ignore problems include:
- Outdated security systems. With threats constantly changing, it’s necessary to keep all security systems and software up to date to protect from the latest threats.
- Inconvenience. Implementing new systems can be a costly investment from both a time and money perspective. However, the costs of not implementing new systems can be even greater.
- Poor planning. Even with a ransomware strategy in place, companies that fail to follow a thorough ransomware prevention checklist can face challenges when threats are encountered.
A Better Solution: Take a Data-Centric Approach
While some companies attempt to put enterprise ransomware protection measures in place, many of these solutions are inadequate for one simple reason: They’re not data-centric. The best way to increase your organizational security is through a data-centric approach to security.
What a Data-Centric Approach to Security Looks Like
A data-centric approach to security requires your organization to know where your data lives. You can’t protect the data you don’t know that you have. With a full suite of data discovery tools, you can ensure your organization knows the location, context, and amount of data under your control. This can not only help in the event of a data breach or ransomware attack, but also in day-to-day operations.
How Robust DLP Strategies Protect Data
A comprehensive data loss prevention (DLP) strategy includes all stages of the data lifecycle. A robust DLP strategy should include a set of tools and policies that cover not just ransomware, but data breaches, exfiltration, and unwanted data destruction as well.
Your DLP strategy should check all of the following boxes:
- Provides active data discovery 24/7
- Offers real-time alerts and threat monitoring
- Finds unstructured data in addition to structured data
- Provides accurate data discovery to ensure the best protection available
- Automates the data classification process
- Protects data within a Zero Trust framework
See What a Data-Centric Approach to Security Looks Like
While it may be possible to cobble together a collection of tools to meet your organization’s security needs, Spirion’s Governance Suite can simplify the data protection process and help you protect your data from ransomware attacks. The Governance Suite combines all of Spirion’s products to help you build a proactive security and privacy posture that’s customized to your business needs.
Watch our demo to see the Governance Suite in action. For more information, contact our team and we can answer any additional questions you may have.
