How does cloud backup help to mitigate cyberattacks including ransomware

In the last few years, the number of organisations that have become a target for cyber hackers, have steadily been on the increase. These cyberattacks are essentially malicious and deliberate attempts aimed at breaching the information system of a firm and gaining access to some private information. These attacks could be launched on a single computer or a network of computers and are often devastating, with companies losing customers data, suffering from downtime and hampering productivity.
 

Types of Cyber Attack

Although the cyber threat landscape is constantly evolving and new shapes of cyber threats coming into being, here are some of the more popular forms of cyber-attacks out there:

  • Malware
  • Phishing
  • Ransomware
  • Denial of service
  • Man-in-the-middle
  • Cryptojacking
  • SQL injection
  • Zero-day exploits

What Is Ransomware?

Becoming ever more common ransomware is a type of malware that prevents users from accessing their system or personal files. In such an instance, access is only granted when “ransom” is paid., Ransom payments have evolved from the snail mail format to payment via cryptocurrency or credit card. One of the preferred methods used by cybercriminals is malicious spam or malspam. To the uninitiated, malspam is an unsolicited email that conveys malware. Malspam often includes booby-trapped attachments like PDF files and links to malicious websites. The idea behind malspam is to trick people into opening attachments or clicking on links that look legit but are malicious. Once a user does any of these things, their systems get breached. Malvertising, or malicious advertising, is yet another method used to spread ransomware. In this case, users are directed to criminal servers where details about the victim’s computers and their locations are categorized. This information is then used to select the best ransomware for the cyberattack.

How To Mitigate Ransomware

The best way to mitigate ransomware is to ensure all members within the company are familiar with how attackers will attempt to deliver the attack. Prevention alone does not guarantee safety and plan B is a must. Most business owners often ask the question, do on-premise backup solutions protect systems against ransomware?

The answer is NO, or at least not completely. This is because ransomware essentially attacks the live production environment to infect the backups environment.

Why? It’s simple. On-premise backups are part of the same IT network.
Ransomware essentially injects encrypting virus that corrupts the backups copies used for the recovery process. When these attacks are successful, organizations never really recover from the ransomware attack due to the compromised data, workloads and other business operational systems which essentially force or drive the business to shut down.

In most instances, the best bet for mitigating ransomware and cyberattacks, in general, is cloud backup. There are a ton of benefits derivable from cloud backups, but one of the most important is security. This is because cloud backups are “air-gapped” which implies that there is a network separate from the live environment, so the risk of infection is greatly limited.

In addition, great backup solutions always offer additional security features that protect users from even the most sophisticated ransomware. It also identifies intrusions and recovers regardless of the cybercriminals attempts at corrupting the data and holding it hostage for as long as possible. Cloud backup solutions allow for a quick recovery process with the rollback time to the pre-encrypted business environment. It also supports multiple cloud backup strategy normally managed with one management console.

How To Combat Cybercrime Using Cloud Backup

The backup repository must be protected against cyberattacks with an ultra-resilient media type. Encrypting backups can be enough to prevent some cyberattacks but given the constant changes in the form of cyberattacks, the most effective way to combat cybercrime is by employing the use of cloud back and ensuring resiliency in the backup data. Irreversible backups in the cloud provide resiliency by ensuring that backup data which is stored in the cloud cannot be deleted by ransomware, malicious administrators or even accidentally. Ultra-resilient cloud backup is the best way to combat cybercrime because it offers enhanced security, compliance and quick recoverability in the event of a cyberattack.

General Recommendations
It’s is particularly important to follow the 3-2-1 rule (three copies of your data, two different types of media, one stored off-site – preferably the cloud). Other measures to be taken include running continuous backup and recovery or software follow any data changes; performing frequent storage drive snapshots, SQL database copies; training staff to identify cyber threats and implementing anti-fraud procedures.

cloud backup mitigate ransomware