First, the bad news: ransomware, a major cybersecurity nightmare that is growing in scale and sophistication, continues to wreak havoc in organizations and enterprises of all types and sizes. Even more frightening, new ransomware attack vectors are emerging along with the move to remote and hybrid work and the use of messaging and collaboration solutions that were not designed with security in mind.

Now the good news: enterprises can close the door on this ransomware attack vector with secure, encrypted messaging solutions, like NetSfere.

A pervasive and fast-growing cybercrime, ransomware will cost victims approximately $265 billion annually by 2031, according to Cybersecurity Ventures. A State of Ransomware 2022 report by cybersecurity company Sophos found that 66% of organizations surveyed were hit with ransomware in 2021, up from 37% in 2020. The report also revealed that ransom payments are also increasing with 11% of surveyed organizations paying ransoms of $1 million or more in 2021, up from 4% in 2020.

Headline-making ransomware attacks like Colonial Pipeline, Uber, and the Los Angeles Unified School Department, highlight that no company or organization is immune from ransomware attacks. While all enterprises face the risk of ransomware, some sectors are being targeted more often than others. Average weekly global ransomware attacks by industry data from Checkpoint for Q2 of this year show that education, government, healthcare, and finance/banking are among the top 6 targets for attackers.

However, the unfortunate truth today is that no matter what sector an organization is in, they are a potential target for a ransomware attack. Cybercriminals are industry agnostic, looking for easy entry points to access data and hold it hostage.

Don’t make it easy for cybercriminals. Ransomware prevention starts with closing off entry points including avoiding the use of vulnerable applications like un-secure messaging and collaboration solutions.

With secure, enterprise-grade mobile messaging platforms, the door is completely closed to cyber-criminals. This way, there are no security weaknesses or security blind spots and there is no lack of IT control which means no vulnerability to malicious ransomware attacks.

The best ways enterprises can close the door on ransomware attacks starts with:

• Always-on encryption – industry-leading end-to-end encryption across every device where data and messages are protected at rest and in transit.

• Robust administrative controls – powerful centralized administrative controls that deliver real-time visibility, allowing IT departments to securely manage the distribution of information across the enterprise.

• Compliance – organizations need to meet the most demanding and evolving global compliance and privacy requirements including GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, FINRA, SOX, DFA, and more.

Contact us today to learn more about how your organization can close the door to ransomware attacks.