How to protect business continuity

One of the biggest lies in cybersecurity is that it is an IT problem. Any cyber breach, whether caused by ransomware or another type of attack, is a business continuity issue. In the sector we say that there are two types of companies: those that have been hacked and those that do not know they have been hacked. Given the inevitability of ransomware attacks, organizations must design for recovery. While IT is a critical part of this, a business continuity plan includes elements that go beyond restoring data and applications. These can also be critical factors in whether or not your strategy is successful.

Have a business continuity strategy

Instead of viewing technology as the end game when it comes to the success or failure of cybersecurity, we need to view it in the context of a broader business continuity strategy. There are many things that need to happen before and after the moment we use antivirus and firewall solutions to identify and repel attacks or backup and recovery solutions to restore data. The first is to establish a clear policy for how the organization will respond in the event of a cyber breach.

This implies rigorously testing the decision-making capacity of the company’s managers to ensure that they are prepared to lead the company in such a situation. Elaborating worst case scenarios and creating a best practice manual on how to respond, communicate and move forward after a cybersecurity incident can help the company. Considering that Veeam’s Data Protection Trends Report shows that more than three out of four organizations have experienced ransomware attacks in the last 12 months, it’s surprising that cyber breaches still seem to come as a surprise or catch businesses. unsuspecting. Although not an everyday scenario for a business, cyber breaches happen every day.

Any cyber breach, whether caused by ransomware or another type of attack, is a business continuity issue

So before it happens to you, have a strategy in place with clear rules, roles and responsibilities. Never pay the ransom. This should be ruled out as an option before an attack has been conceived. Outline the steps that will be taken to remedy and restore. Which apps need to be brought back online first? What is the most critical data to restore first? What information do we need before we can inform each stakeholder group: employees, customers, partners, shareholders, media? Who are the key people within the company who need to be made aware of the breach and are they aware of their roles? Is there an official document that describes the recovery steps and includes the contact details of the people who will participate in the process? Business continuity is a business challenge, not a technology challenge.

Use technology to defend your business

Technology is not an isolated case and should not be considered a company’s only protector against ransomware. However, it is important that you have a proper technology strategy. This starts with your employees and providing everyone within the company with best practice guidelines for identifying potential attacks and applying impeccable digital hygiene. Testing employees to see how they react to phishing links and emails is a good way to get the message across that cyberattacks often enter the company through the back door and don’t always have to be incredible technological feats. This stage is all about making sure your first line of defense is as strong as possible.

When all else fails, Modern Ransomware Protection requires an integrated security architecture from endpoints to network to cloud to detect, correlate, and remediate attacks. Saying “restoring from a backup is enough” oversimplifies the process and leads to assumptions about backup and recovery capabilities that often turn out to be false and lead to data loss.

To avoid the worst case scenario, having a plan that includes verified, tested, and secure backups that can be quickly restored is key to dealing with ransomware attacks. Your backup infrastructure is part of your overall cybersecurity defense plan and may be the last option to get back in business, or stay in business. Verified and verified backups are the first step to any successful recovery. Organizations should follow the 3-2-1-1-0 rule, which recommends that there be at least three copies of critical data, on at least two different types of media, with at least one of these copies offsite. and an offline one, with aerial or immutable protection, with zero incomplete or error backups.

Investing in a strong backup and recovery strategy is a critical component of a Modern Data Protection strategy. Companies must ensure they have the technical capabilities to identify, mitigate, and remediate ransomware attacks. However, liability is not limited to technology. Business continuity is the responsibility of the entire company and its management team. Since cyberattacks pose a significant threat to business continuity, organizations must be meticulous in their preparation for these malicious incidents. This includes a detailed action plan, clear roles and responsibilities, and the necessary tools to prevent ransomware attacks from happening, but also to deal with them should the inevitable happen.

By Edwin Weijdema, Global Technologist at Veeam