9 Tips To Prevent Ransomware Attacks

Antivirus Software: The Only Way to Protect an Ecommerce Store against Ransomware?

The growth of e-commerce in recent times is unprecedented, to say the least, as more people are seeing the appeal of ordering for products and services off phones and laptops. Ecommerce stores provide the user's convenience; this means there can only be even more growth in this sector. Technological advancements have also made it important to ensure security by using antivirus software and other protection tools, as there is also an increase in fraud and cybersecurity attacks.

In this article, we'll show you the best ways to use protection against Ransomware.

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What Is Ransomware?

Ransomware is malware that cyber attackers use to breach online systems. This malware can take over a computer system or data, encrypt it, and make it inaccessible to the owners until a ransom is paid. The collection of the ransom happens in such a way that it is impossible to trace the payments, and as such, law enforcement agencies might not be able to catch the perpetrators.

Payment sources like Apple iTunes gift cards and more recently bitcoins have been used. It might be daunting to have businesses being shut down for some time, as these attacks do not ease up until the ransom has been paid.

However, law enforcement advises victims of this cyber-attack to hold off on making payments; people who pay get targeted again. Additionally, it is impossible to tell if the victim's data or information will be released after the payment has been made.

Ransomware attacks initially targeted personal computers, but they have expanded to businesses, as these organizations can pay more money. These attacks do not have to be sophisticated, as the malware uses the normal attack vectors (spam mail, social engineering), but with financial compensation as the twist. For e-commerce stores, not having access to either the website or data to ensure day-to-day transactions can be detrimental, as downtime could incur a substantial financial loss.

Here are some ways to make sure that does not happen:

1. One of the ways to ensure that your e-commerce store is safe from ransomware is to provide best practices for staff. It is vital to educate employees about the possible threats to spam mail and social engineering and how to work around it. Spam mails help attackers get into the computer system. Educating employees on spam mails can prevent breaching. Preventing employees from releasing unrelated information about e-commerce stores on social media is also a way to educate staff on best practices.

2. Employees should not diverge personal information and should ignore suspicious emails that require these kinds of information. Employees should be encouraged to alert the IT department about suspicious emails.

3. It is important to install efficient antivirus software and firewall. Update software frequently, because cybercriminals are always looking for new ways to breach firewalls. The antivirus software should be from a company that has a good reputation.

4. Ensuring that system and data are back-up daily will prevent ransomware attackers. Data can be backed-up on the cloud or on another on-premise server. It will be possible to restore the system if attackers manage to get past antivirus software and firewalls.

5. It is necessary to implement other monitoring tools apart from antivirus software, on servers, networks to detect and isolate or delete the ransomware malware from the organization's system.

6. Update all the systems and software frequently with the necessary patches. Software that is not up-to-date makes systems vulnerable and more susceptible to threats. The IT department should be able to handle these updates; it is also possible to set automatic updates for software used in running the e-commerce store.

7. It is important to use a scanner and filter on mail servers. That allows your system sift through inbound emails to determine possible threats and take necessary actions on them.

8. It is important to secure the gateways for any online browsers used in the organizations, as this helps identify and flag down web advertisements that could be suspicious.

9. If employees work with laptops that they take out of the organization and are about to travel, they should let the IT department know before making the journey.

 

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