Maarten Grooff
In the past, when people received the message 'all your files are encrypted', people were still confused because no one knew what this meant anymore. Nowadays, people and companies mainly have a feeling of powerlessness and respond with 'we have been affected too'. It is therefore important that companies properly protect themselves against cyber attacks to limit (financial) damage. The problem can be tackled by taking joint action against cyber criminals.
A ransomware attack is gradually becoming normalized, it is a kind of digital traffic accident. Anyone who gets into a car knows that a traffic accident is possible. But with all the security in cars, people continue to use the road with peace of mind. This is the same in the business world with its security, more and more measures are being taken to make networks more secure and the attention for it is also increasing. More and more backups are being made. Because that's a good solution for a ransomware attack, right?
But what if your files are stolen instead of locked, what do you do? Data leakage is often a leverage point for ransomware attacks and this is only getting worse. Consider the ROC Mondriaan and the Arnhem and Nijmegen University of Applied Sciences, which have previously been victims of attacks. A backup situation is then no longer sufficient, so more needs to be done.
You have probably already thought about how you can best protect your organization against these forms of cybercrime. But have you also looked at the worst-case scenario? What if suddenly all your organization's data is out on the street?
The question 'how bad is it if this leaks out?' information about the data you store is wise for any type of data, even when you write certain emails or internal memos. Everything you store digitally must be properly secured. But you never have a guarantee of one hundred percent security, especially not when this data is distributed or available to many in the company. Attacks and data leaks, such as at ROC Mondriaan and HAN, should therefore open our eyes. Data must be handled differently.
Ransomware shows once again that we need to handle data differently and that companies need to reconsider their data strategy. Within the IT world it is still too often seen that data is stored for an unnecessarily long time. One of the points that companies need to look at is how long they want to keep data and how well you can protect this data.
If data is not properly secured or the wrong people are allowed in, data always leaks. In addition to taking important preventive measures, having the data policy in writing is useful in times of crisis. No one wants to end up in this situation.
The current number of attacks makes it worthwhile to reconsider internal data policy. Not only employees and IT departments, but also upper management must realize that all data that is kept for too long poses an additional risk of image damage, fines or other serious consequences for relationships because their data has been leaked to hackers. In addition to data from relationships, important data from your own organization, such as internal communications, camera images and documents from the entire organization and corporate culture, can also be exposed. Even though the organization uses encryption, you will still have to assume that the data will leak at some point.
Today, in which many ransomware attacks occur, requires a critical look at how data is produced, how it is stored, and why it should be kept.
This also means that it is important to carefully consider who your company is doing business with. This must always be with reliable relationships. Transparency is no longer always a choice. Assume that someone will always have access to the important data and that it will one day become public, and act accordingly.
Xafax offers you various products and services for your corporate network and security. We use Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), which ensures that your organization is well protected against cyber attacks. Are you curious whether your company is sufficiently protected? Please contact us and we will be happy to help you.
Source: Computable
