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The rise of ransomware attacks and their continued evolution mean organisations cannot afford to fall behind and must strive to advance in step with this threat. That said, investing in better technologies is not always enough and can give companies a false sense of security, thinking they are now well protected when it comes to ransomware and becoming complacent in improving their cybersecurity posture further.
On the other hand, as new cyber threats emerge, more vendors will put out new solutions and capabilities to deal with them. However, many organisations will likely be unaware whether these solutions and services offer something they do not have or are just more of the same. Since ransomware gangs do not stop at what worked before, nor should we. Without further ado, below are a few tips to better the effectiveness of your organisation’s ransomware response.
Prevention starts with visibility, which in turn, requires simplicity. Organisations should therefore assess whether they can detect ransomware attacks at any point in their network. This capability matters, given that advances in ransomware continue unabated, meaning new strains are better at disguising themselves, slipping by undetected than before.
The first step to prevention is to clean up the organisation’s IT environment. Is it simple to navigate, or is it filled with noise? To streamline and modernise their security, organisations may want to consider the following:
● Consolidate their IT vendors along with their detection and response capabilities.
● Upgrade to next-generation solutions that provide total visibility into the business’s IT environment.
● Switch to a cloud-first administration model.
Responding at pace entails organisations conducting a comprehensive autopsy focusing on securing and monitoring endpoints. How many user credentials were harvested from the network during the process? What data was stolen? Which assets were compromised? A scalable data platform can answer all these questions, and in the current threat environment, that involves quickly identifying malicious patterns.
In contrast, a behavioural-based approach leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning must effectively detect most emerging ransomware strains. Is the cybersecurity strategy future-proof enough? Does it adhere to the MITRE and NIST framework, and will it outpace the most significant threats?
At this stage, the key is to evaluate whether you have the skills and staff necessary to comprehend the technicalities of how and what to drive the next steps or if it is better to engage the relevant cybersecurity services. In other words, this is capacity planning.
Organisations need a scalable yet effective response capability, and what most of them are doing today is not working. Moreover, the current strategy of throwing more people at the problem is clearly ineffective.
Companies need tools that can automate the tasks their staff cannot keep up with and tools that force multiply the workforce they already have. Moreover, those technologies can go even further once the data is optimised, primed, and enriched. Guided remediations enhance mean-time-to-respond, while AI/ML-based autonomous platforms like XDR can process volumes of data and analyse it all in real time, doing wonders in optimising an IT team’s capacity to respond.
Next-generation IT solutions allow organisations to respond swiftly at scale. Ransomware gangs are leveraging the same technologies we have, enabling them to develop around 10,000 new exploits every several months, which will require AI/ML-based solutions to combat effectively.
Tools like MDR and XDR work well at spotting known malware and more using behavioural analytics. These solutions look at and between endpoints and even down to the kernel level to detect exploits as they execute. Automated remediation capabilities then activate to eliminate these threats at scale. This significantly helps free up employees to focus on more critical problems, engage in cyber threat hunting, and continuously improve the organisation’s security strategy.
The threat of ransomware attacks will only intensify and become more prominent down the line, especially with more ransomware gangs continuously entering the fray. Hopefully, with the tips above, you will have a better idea of how to improve the effectiveness of your ransomware response and bolster your organisation’s security posture.
Get in touch with us at GROUP8 today, and let us help you achieve the most comprehensive cybersecurity posture for your organisation. Access our industry-leading and offensive-inspired cybersecurity services, such as data loss prevention, incident response, and vulnerability assessment and penetration testing in Singapore, that ensure you remain a step ahead of global threat actors. For more information, don’t hesitate to contact us at hello@group8.co.