Engage Proactive Measures To Prepare for Cybersecurity Incidents

With ransomware attacks continuing to evolve and threat operators becoming more evasive, companies face an enormous threat and taking proactive measures can help against cybersecurity incidents. When breaches were in their early phases, the only goal was to force victims to pay a ransom to get their data back. A new tactic of threat operators is seeking to completely disable companies. Cybercriminals have been looking for new targets, including data backups that are designed to save companies in the case of an intrusion. Threat actors are expecting to catch businesses off guard and completely disable their operations by turning their focus to backups, putting their secure, private information at risk.

Ransomware is one of the most serious threats to the nation’s cybersecurity. Between 2018 and 2020, ransomware attacks cost United States organizations $52.88 billion. Ransomware will continue to be a threat as techniques evolve; companies need to be prepared by taking proactive measures. Even though it’s important for companies to follow the steps indicated by CISA in protecting their networks, companies must also secure their data backups before becoming a target for ransomware attacks. Even though this appears to be overwhelming, there are some proactive measures for incident preparedness to counteract new threats and prevent sensitive data from falling into malicious threat actors’ hands. Having an effective incident response plan will ensure the protection of sensitive, confidential data, including financial and personnel records, which in turn will limit organizational downtime, reputation damage, and data loss.

Proactive Measures Against Cybersecurity Incidents

1. Assemble an internal incident management team and coordinate with legal, public relations, and forensic partners.
2. Develop strong data backup strategies and unchangeable contingency plans based on evolving threats. This allows for fast and complete data recovery while mitigating any ransomware attacks.
3. Use the 3-2-1-1-0 method: maintain three copies of critical data on at least two different media types, at least one of which is offsite, and one data backup that is air-gapped, offline, and unchangeable.
4. Develop a comprehensive incident response plan and procedures.
5. Conduct a data inventory and security architecture review.
6. Identify security vulnerabilities and develop a remediation plan.
7. Retire legacy systems and software, and ensure former employee access is terminated.
8. Implement multi-factor authentication for all network users.
9. Engage employees in phishing and social engineering training.
10. Routinely conduct tabletop and red team exercises to test your incident readiness.
11. Review and update the IR plan on a regular basis.
12. Companies must protect their business-critical data by ensuring they all have an incident response plan in place.

Ransomware attack methods continue to pose a constant threat. Cybercriminals have been using the method for decades with considerable success and evolving the strategy to compete with some of the world’s most protected systems. To fight the initiatives, companies need to stay innovative and resilient by taking proactive measures. It can be accomplished with a well-planned data management and backup strategy and a company’s workforce that’s prepared to put proactive measures into action in the event of an incident. Additionally, it’s important for companies to continuously remain alert to the latest threat landscape and implement proactive recommendations in preventing future cyberattacks. At SpearTip, our certified engineers are working continuously in an investigative cycle monitoring companies’ data networks for potential cyberattacks, and are ready to respond to incidents at a moment’s notice. Our ShadowSpear Platform, an integrable managed detection and response tool, uses comprehensive insights through unparalleled data normalization and visualizations to detect sophisticated unknown and advanced threats.

If your company is experiencing a breach, call our Security Operations Centers at 833.997.7327 to speak directly with an engineer.