How to Build Ransomware Resiliency in the Face of Ever-Evolving Cyber Attacks

Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts your data and then charges you a ransom to decrypt it. This can be devastating, especially if you don’t have backups of the files. There are two main types of ransomware: known and unknown.

Known ransomware is where the attacker has a specific target in mind, such as a certain company or individual. Unknown ransomware is where the attacker will try to infect as many people as possible in the hopes that someone will pay the ransom.

Storage and backup ransomware threats are particularly dangerous because they can encrypt your backups as well as your primary data. This means that even if you have backups, you may not be able to restore them if they’re also encrypted.

Fortunately, organizations have a lot of options when it comes to dealing with ransomware attacks, including ways to prevent them and mitigate the damage if it occurs.

Based on a blog post by former NetApp Executive Vice President Joel Reich for Continuity, here are five helpful steps to prevent data breach and protect your business from ransomware.

1. Immutable storage/backup
   Immutable storage/backup is a critical part of your system and should be a staple in your design. When a computer system is backed up, the data is stored in the same form, making it immune to any alterations.

2. Snapshots and Replication
   Replication is about sharing data between redundant resources to provide protection. For example, say your software and hardware components need protection. Or if a server or data center goes down, you can use replication to have access to the same information as the other system. Snapshots and point-in-time copies are typically used in replication. If you ever experience a data loss, they help with restoration and offsite backups too.

3. Network Segmentation
   Network segmentation is a tactic that you can use to greatly reduce the impact of a ransomware attack. If a network is split into many zones, then the malware will only be able to spread to one zone if it manages to infiltrate that area.

4. Secure Data Vault and Air-Gapped Solutions
   Data vaulting is a great way to avoid getting your backup files infected with ransomware. Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting backup environments with ransomware, ensuring that their extortion attempts are successful. Vaulting provides air gapping, which is separating a copy of the backup from other systems. This can be done using tape backups, which are kept offline and away from the internet. As there is no physical connection to the internet, no ransomware can infect the tape backups.

5. Data Security
   Data security is a crucial element of safeguarding your high-value data. While there are many different procedures, standards, and technologies to choose from, these steps can help ensure that any unauthorized parties can’t access the data by destroying its integrity completely. This includes encryption (in transit and at rest), file scanning, malware detection and prevention, network security such as firewalls, intrusion detection, data privilege management, and more.
6. Storage and Backup Security Posture Management
   There are tons of patch management and vulnerability management tools out there. They continually scan networks and tools for security problems, but they can’t always find vulnerabilities in storage and backup systems.

Thousands of security vulnerabilities for storage and backup systems (known as CVEs) are currently active. They can be used to take control of someone’s system, block devices, delete data, or install ransomware to hold it hostage. Overall, about 20% of storage devices are exposed to these threats.

Organizations often fail to configure immutable backups the right way, possibly the result of a lack of understanding about backup technology. This allows malicious people to compromise these backup systems.

How We Can Help

Continuity StorageGuard ensures the security of your storage and backup system. StorageGuard provides physical data security for any potential threats that could happen to your storage devices.

If you break into a storage device, StorageGuard will still protect your files from being deleted, altered, or blocked. Your files are also encrypted before they are even sent to the hard drive.
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Sources:

Reich, J. (2022, October 3). The Storage Manager’s Quick-Guide to Ransomware Resiliency (Part 2)
https://www.continuitysoftware.com/blog/the-storage-managers-quick-guide-to-ransomware-resiliency-part-2/

Reich, J. (2022, September 18). The Storage Manager’s Quick-Guide to Ransomware Resiliency
https://www.continuitysoftware.com/blog/the-storage-managers-quick-guide-to-ransomware-resiliency/