{"id":5815,"date":"2020-10-20T18:46:51","date_gmt":"2020-10-20T16:46:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/?p=5815"},"modified":"2020-10-20T18:46:53","modified_gmt":"2020-10-20T16:46:53","slug":"how-to-prevent-ransomware-with-smart-it-operations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tekmart.co.za\/t-blog\/how-to-prevent-ransomware-with-smart-it-operations\/","title":{"rendered":"How to prevent ransomware with smart IT operations"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time-approximately:<\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

Whatever you do: Don’t pay the ransom. Learn how the right tools and procedures can enable IT ops admins to prevent, mitigate and recover from a ransomware attack.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Brian<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Brian Kirsch<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to ransomware attacks, IT operations plays a big role alongside security experts. They identify, prevent and — if all else fails — mitigate the effects of ransomware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A strong IT operations team is a weapon in security’s arsenal, along with widespread\u00a0security awareness\u00a0across all employees — in and out of IT. The IT team can prevent ransomware with regular patching and software updates, reduce the effect of an attack with good and frequent backups, lead the recovery to get systems up and running, and\u00a0analyze logs\u00a0to gain insights on the attack.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Keep software and systems up to date<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the best ways to fight ransomware is prevention. IT teams must keep software and firmware up to date and install patches to prevent\u00a0vulnerabilities. The IT operations team should work with security on system updates. Security teams can advocate for updates and keep track of vendor bulletins, while IT operations implements changes and tracks systems history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because these teams are separate groups in many companies, communication and coordination can be difficult. The security team should scan for new threats and issues and alert IT operations to required updates and their priority level. Ensure that IT operations manages\u00a0patching\u00a0activities. They should analyze all changes to IT systems to estimate the scope of downtime and any other effects from these updates, such as broken dependencies from new software versions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get to know ransomware<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Ransomware is one of the many kinds of malware that infect corporate endpoint computers and servers. Ransomware takes control of data — typically by encrypting files — until the company pays the attackers to release it. Ransomware does not destroy data, as other types of attacks do. Also unique to ransomware, attackers alert their victim to the attack. High-profile ransomware attacks include 2017’s\u00a0WannaCry\u00a0and\u00a0Bad Rabbit\u00a0outbreaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workers can spread ransomware by opening email attachments or other infected downloads. It also can infiltrate a business through infected software, falsified OS messages and other means. Data center servers hosting mission-critical applications are lucrative targets for a ransomware attacker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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