In building a defense against ransomware attacks, there are things that individuals can do and things that enterprises can do to prevent the initial infection.

Don’t Click the Link!

I know, I know, you have heard that one before. But it is always worth repeating. Phishing emails delivered a large percentage of malware in 2019. Humans aren’t going to stop clicking the link, and I know this because I have clicked the link. So, as fallible mortal humans, we can at least be a little more skeptical of emails. And maybe that little bit of skepticism drops the amount of malware we allow to infect our companies.

Build Email Protections and Endpoint Protections

As the enterprise, we know that humans will click the link.

• Scan all emails for known malware strains, and keep firewalls and endpoint protections up to date with the latest known malware signatures.
• Notify users of out of network emails
• Provide VPNs for users to use outside of the network

Keep Backups

Both for enterprises and personal protection, keep current backups of your important data. The best and fastest way to thwart ransomware is by a quick re-image of the disk, and then a data restore from the last good backup – unless the attacks also exfiltrated the data, which is a different issue.

Protect your Personal Information

Humans are genetically predisposed to trust other humans. It’s one of the evolutionary reasons for the vast proliferation of our species. This basic trust is how mentalists can make us believe it was our idea to make a certain choice, or how attackers get us to reveal our passwords or mother’s maiden names.

Again, be skeptical and follow protocol when someone asks you about sensitive information. It’s the same issue as the links, but this might be a real-life in-person interaction. This advice goes double for users in the C-Suite, who are the targets in whale phishing campaigns.