Neutralize Ransomware with a Secure Solution and Proven Backup

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This blog is co-authored by: @divyashah 

Ransomware is a severe digital pandemic. A report by Check Point Research suggests that, globally, ransomware attacks increased by 102 percent in 2021 from last year, while the average ransom paid was 171% over last year. 

This year, many organizations were attacked and were reportedly received ransom demands of enormous amounts. One of the reputed victims (an automobile manufacturer) suffered ransom where the attackers—'DopplePaymer' gang—asked for $20 million for a decryption key and a promise not to leak the stolen data. One of the computer giants was hit by 'REvil' ransomware attack where the hackers demanded a whopping $50 million.

Ransomware attacks are increasing in numbers and costing organizations more. Here are 5 'S's of protecting your data from ransomware:

1. Strategize System backup and restore to get back to a clean state
2. Secure your backup with immutable (WORM) storage
3. Strong, Reputable Endpoint Anti-Virus Security
4. Security Awareness Training to employees
5. Strikeout unrequired micros and admin privileges

Ransomware doesn't always have to trick you into installing something. It can sometimes spread on its own by exploiting security holes. Having a regular backup of your data and ensuring the backed-up data is protected assures you to restore the data to a healthy state when ransomware strikes. 

NetBackup SaaS Protection (NSP) is a backup solution for SaaS applications and File servers. Built on the Azure platform, it benefits from the scale, security, reliability, and flexibility that Azure provides.

NSP's features described below help manage data and backups efficiently to protect data from ransomware. 

Immutable Storage (WORM) - Once you backup your data, the next important thing is to protect that backup from unintended modifications. NSP's Cloud-based object storage, which is immutable, write-once-read-many (WORM) storage, is both convenient and secure. Whether it's SEC, FINRA, MiFID II, FDA, or other enterprise-level regulatory compliance needs, NSP has you covered.

To meet WORM requirements, NSP's WORM policies ensure content does not purge before it is eligible for deletion. There are two types of WORM policies in NSP:

1. Item-level WORM – Granular policies that can evaluate access rights, folder location, and any item-level attributes to define WORM retention periods on individual files, and
2. Storage account-level WORM – Specifies a standard retention period for all items within the storage account.

Archiving and Tiering - As data grows, managing your backups becomes a more considerable challenge. NSP solves that problem by providing archiving and tiering strategies. As low-touch and infrequently-accessed data is stored in a secure cloud vault, back up and restore of primary data becomes faster and easier. As the archived data is stored separately from primary storage, it provides an air gap and limits malware's attack surface within the organization's IT infrastructure.

Point-in-time recovery – You can restore the data changes up to a given point in time. With this feature, you can easily restore your data to the most recent known healthy state from the cloud in the event of a ransomware attack.

Ransomware is becoming more infectious and harmful as cybercriminals evolve their techniques and technologies. With the features mentioned above, NetBackup SaaS Protection provides secure immutable storage, efficient backup techniques, and flexible, proven recovery methods to neutralize ransomware impact.

For more features of NetBackup™ SaaS Protection, please visit: https://www.veritas.com/protection/netbackup/saas-protection.