3 First Steps To Securing Your Company From Crypto Attacks

By Ryan Klund - Business Development Associate

Imagine that it’s the middle of a Monday morning at your office. All at once, without warning, all of your computers are locked down and on everyone’s monitors is a message that reads:

“Your files are encrypted. To get the key to decrypt files you must pay $20,000 USD in Bitcoin. If payment is not made in 72 hours your files will be destroyed.”

This scary situation is becoming all-too-common for municipalities and businesses in today’s security landscape. Rather than trying to fight the attack or refusing to pay, victims are paying off attackers every day, leading to more and more attacks.

To have protection from a crypto attack, there are three things outside of anti-virus and email filtering that you Should implement.

1. Backup Your Data To A Secure Cloud Server

   • The most important thing you can do to protect from ransomware is to backup all your data daily to a secure cloud-based server so that you won’t have to pay to see your data again. It’s important that the backup is done to a cloud server rather than a server on-site. Some ransomware attackers will work through a desktop system to encrypt and lock onsite backups.
   • At SWICKtech, we offer space and access to a secure cloud-based server system through Microsoft Azure. 

2. Multifactor Authentication (MFA) - Put it on Everything

   • MFA is a security system that confirms a user’s identity by requiring at least two forms of authentication. Rather than just asking for a password, a user might have to provide an additional code from a phone application, answer a security question, provide a fingerprint or facial recognition before access to data is granted.
   • By confirming a user’s identity, you’re building a wall around your critical data that only you and your users can access.

3. Manage Secure and Unique passwords

   • Ensure that your employees are using secure and unique passwords by implementing a password vault. These systems protect and store passwords in an encrypted format and provide secure access to information with the help of a master password.
   • At SWICKtech, we can provide a password vault for everyone at your organization!