Whitepaper

10 Ways to Prevent
Ransomware Attacks

Ransomware attacks have been a reality 01.

for organizations of all sizes for quite Harden your email perimeter
some time. In recent months, however,
the volume and sophistication of attacks, As IT and security teams know all too well,
as well as the consequences, have been email is still the top attack vector. The best
ratcheting up. way to prevent employees from falling
for attacks is to block as many malicious
Companies that fall victim find themselves
emails as possible as close to the source
in an impossible situation. No one wants to
as possible. Using a mature, cloud-based
pay—preventing ransomware altogether
secure email gateway with advanced inbound
is the goal—but many feel they have no
and outbound scanning remains the most
choice. Even worse, there are no guarantees.
effective way to do that. For Microsoft 365
In recent research from Mimecast, 61%
users, a layered email security approach is
of respondents to an annual State of
also essential to reducing risk, as attackers
Email Security 2021 survey said they had
increasingly seek to reap the benefits of
experienced a ransomware attack in the
exploiting the world’s most widely adopted
last 12 months. Of those respondents, 52%
business productivity platform.
paid the ransomware, but over a third never
recovered their data. 02.
So how do you keep your organization Archive to an independent, separately
secured environment
secure? It’s about more than just security.
Let’s take a look at ten strategies that can
The ability to protect and preserve corporate
reduce risk, build resilience, and help get
data can provide you with a greater degree
attackers out of the driver’s seat.
of control in the worst-case scenario of
a successful ransomware attack, while
following the best practice of maintaining
a lean amount of data can reduce your
exposure and attack surface.
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10 Ways to Prevent Ransomware Attacks

Archiving to an independently secured

05.
environment allows you to achieve both of Limit attackers’ ability to craft highly
those objectives. targeted attacks

03. Highly targeted attacks that imitate a brand

Build resilience with integrated or use personal information are difficult for
recovery capabilities
even the most sophisticated users to detect;
and when it comes to lucrative targets,
The ability to quickly and easily restore
attackers are willing to put in the time to
mailboxes to a point in time can keep your
craft them.
organization functioning and mitigate the
damage of a ransomware attack. It can also Newer tactics, like the use of embedded
prevent your IT and security teams from email trackers, can reveal a target’s
devoting weeks or months to recovery physical location, operating system, level of
efforts. This capability is particularly critical engagement with the malicious email, and
for M365 users, who often discover too more. Combine that information with the
late the data recovery gaps in the platform. ability to send spoofed emails from trusted
email domains or easily imitate a digital
04. presence and you have a serious threat on
Establish an email continuity plan your hands. Protocols and technologies,
such as DMARC and identity graphing, that
Disruption of mail flow is a reality that
complement email security capabilities can
all organizations must face and plan for,
shield users from these targeted attacks
and it can occur for a variety of reasons.
and provide added layers of protection for
Ransomware is definitely one. The need to
you, your customers, and your partners.
apply urgent patches, remediate an incident,
Learn more.
or even rebuild entirely using a clean
infrastructure are others. Because email
06.
is still the lifeblood of the vast majority of Employ new technologies to improve
businesses, the ability to keep it functional the detection of sophisticated attacks
during disruptive events is foundational to a
cyber resilience strategy. A continuity solution AI, and especially machine learning, are
can ensure that when email goes offline, your playing a growing role in cybersecurity
business doesn’t go down with it. technologies and can be a highly effective
means of bolstering the capabilities of the
solutions that leverage them.

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10 Ways to Prevent Ransomware Attacks

The most common application to date is In addition, tools like customizable warning
the recognition of patterns and the ability banners and alerts—when applied in a
to build on that “knowledge” over time, selective and dynamic way—can go a long
allowing detection rates to improve. There’s way toward helping employees make better
no question the use cases will grow, but decisions. Input from employees can also
it’s also essential to recognize AI for what feed into your larger threat picture to further
it is—a complement to a strong cyber improve detection rates. Learn more.
resilience strategy, rather than a silver
bullet. Technologies that incorporate it in an 08.
integrated way, with a long-term plan for how Maintain good patching hygiene
AI usage will evolve, can make your security
It goes without saying—but still bears
strategy more effective today and help it
repeating—that good patching hygiene is
stand the test of time over the long haul.
essential to reducing the risk of all types of

07. cyberattacks.

Surround end users with support Maintaining an inventory of your assets,

monitoring for patches, and establishing clear
When threats break through, security prioritization processes are all foundational
teams have no choice but to rely on the steps. Having a separately secured backup of
most unpredictable form of protection of data is also an important safeguard.
all—human beings. There’s little debate
that giving them the knowledge and tools 09.
to make better decisions should be a key Protect against drive-by download
part of any organization’s security strategy. infections
The benefits of a cybersecurity awareness
training program are many, but they are most Malicious files downloads can open the door
effectively deployed as part of an overall to ransomware attacks that are difficult
strategy. Solutions that incorporate detailed to detect. Technology known as browser
tracking and risk scoring capabilities can isolation can reduce this risk by executing
help security teams identify the most at- files remotely—in a container or in the
risk employees, while reporting from email cloud—to keep malware infections away from
security systems can also surface those who users’ computers, devices, and networks.
are being targeted most frequently. Factors It can also help eliminate the patient
like these can then be used to provide zero problem.
additional support where needed.

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10 Ways to Prevent Ransomware Attacks

10.
Monitor and control shadow IT In addition to these ten key steps, no
discussion about ransomware would
The new digital workplace has blurred the be complete without a mention of cyber
lines between professional and personal insurance. The debate continues to rage,
and reduced the ability of IT and security with government officials starting to
teams to maintain control. Insecure weigh in, and there is no clear answer.
websites, poorly secured Wi-Fi, and Organizations must each make their own
unsecured file sharing services all increase risk-based decisions; but insured or not, the
risk. Application visibility and control best strategy is one that makes the risk of
capabilities can help. Designed to help IT needing to pay a ransom as low as possible.
and security teams address the “shadow
Mimecast’s mission is to stop bad
IT” problem, they surface which apps are
things from happening to good
being used, by whom, and how often.
organizations.
Teams can then block or monitor usage
as needed. For more information on how we can help
defend against ransomware and other
sophisticated attacks, request a custom
demo or visit Mimecast.com.

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