Posted on October 28, 2022
Blog Press Release
Ransomware represents one of the single fastest-growing concerns for businesses today. They’re so common that 10% of all security breaches impacting businesses now involve some form of ransomware.
Its become so widespread that around 37% of global organizations have stated that they were targeted by ransomware last year.
Businesses are vulnerable to the extent of their dependence on data. The trouble is, that the vast majority of businesses today are heavily reliant on data. So how can you stay safe?
When it comes to business continuity, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. But Business Continuity as a Service can be a reliable way to mitigate the concerns surrounding ransomware in 2022.
Every organization is different and therefore has different needs. However, some core elements are essential for any good business continuity plan.
One of the most important is to have a plan for how to keep your business running in the event of an unexpected outage. This is where Business Continuity as a Service, often abbreviated to BCaaS, comes in.
Business Continuity as a Service (BCaaS) is a cloud-based service that provides businesses with immediate and global protection against outages, network failures, and natural disasters.
It’s usually a solution that can provide you with the ability to replicate your data and applications in a cloud environment. This then means that you can continue to operate even if your primary site is down.
Because of this capability, BCaaS is an essential part of any business continuity plan. But to understand why this is you first need to know why ransomware poses such a threat.
As noted above, many businesses have recently fallen victim to what’s known as a ransomware attack.
The key to understanding what ransomware is lies in the name itself. Ransomware is a malicious program that helps cybercriminals block your access to your system.
Then, these criminals will hold your data or applications to ransom. They will demand either data or remuneration to release control back to you. These ransom notes are usually sent via a device notification, as the hacker will be in control of your device.
Ransomeware has grown in popularity due to the continued reliance on data in the public and private sectors. As we hold more data on the cloud and internally, this data is put at risk.
One of the worst global ransomware attacks to date was WannaCry in 2017. Crimes linked to those behind this event are also still occurring today.
For businesses in 2022, ransomware poses both a financial threat and a threat to your data.
Because of this fact, it’s important to understand how BCaaS can keep you protected.
Before a Business Continuity as a Service solution is implemented, your business first needs to ensure that it has a sound and robust Data Backup Plan in place. You should also have an established Disaster Recovery solution, ahead of time.
These should be treated as the first significant stages in the protection process.
A data backup plan ensures that, if your data is infiltrated, you still have backup versions in place. Some ransomware hackers may threaten to completely wipe your data, which is why these backups are essential.
Meanwhile, a disaster recovery solution is a bit like a worst-case scenario fix. This is a plan that you can put into place should a disaster happen to your company.
This plan can help you protect data and recover any applications. Again, it’s important to train all your employees on a robust disaster recovery plan ahead of time.
That way, you’re prepared for when the time to act comes.
You can learn more about Disaster Recovery by reading through our previous blog post.
Once you’ve implemented both data backup and disaster recovery, you can start considering BCaaS.
Business Continuity as a Service offers a cloud-based disaster recovery solution. This means you have a way of recovering your data without paying a ransom, as you can recover your data through a different approach.
To hold data at ransom, hackers create decryption keys. Think of these like a password that the hacker will try and force you to use, at a price.
Instead of paying for this decryption key, Business Continuity as a Service enables businesses to recover their critical data through this alternative cloud-based recovery option.
To achieve this a BCaaS solution deploys a cloud-based virtualized infrastructure with a tested and validated configuration. This makes it a secure way to recover any data sets that are currently at risk.
It can also be achieved quickly, meaning your business doesn’t risk significant downtime.
There are several factors to bear in mind when it comes to implementing a successful BCaaS.
It’s important to remember that BCaaS is only successful if implemented in a holistic security system. That means you also need to refine your procedures and your policies concerning other aspects of your security system.
In addition to the measures mentioned above, you should also make sure to secure all your endpoints. Endpoints are devices used to access any particular network at a given time.
They include laptops as well as tablets, phones, and other devices. As more companies employ remote workers, endpoint security is more important than ever before.
Endpoints are also a reliable way for hackers to infiltrate your system. This is where they can then deploy malicious items like malware.
So if you protect your endpoints, criminals won’t have access to your system to begin with. By comprehensively refining this and other aspects of your security, you can protect yourself against every possibility.
It’s also vital to train your staff on ransomware specifically, as well as phishing. Make sure they know the tell-tale signs, and what they shouldn’t be doing.
This is particularly important as hackers now employ strategies like impersonation to infiltrate companies. By making your staff aware of the risks, you can work to suitably prevent them.
A business shouldn’t solely rely on BCaaS to protect against ransomware. There are some additional approaches that you should bear in mind, and that you should implement alongside BCaaS itself.
First, any business needs to ensure that they are penetration testing their network regularly. These tests simulate what a real threat might be like in controlled situations.
You can hire a company that will be able to employ a pen test on your network. This should be done regularly, ideally at least on an annual basis to keep your network secure.
Second, the Business Continuity as a Service provider should help the business to conduct regular vulnerability assessments.
These are similar to pen tests but are hyper-focused on BCaaS itself. This additional test can then help add an extra layer of protection to your system.
Finally, you should also look to ensure your company has a wide-reaching policy in place for your security. That means adopting a thorough detection and response strategy.
Think about your cloud data, and how it can stay protected at all times. If you’ve considered all potential avenues for infiltration, then you may not even need to rely on BCaaS at all.
A Business Continuity as a Service solution is an ideal partner for an extended detection and response strategy. As such, it can have many benefits for a company’s security if implemented properly.
Firstly, it prevents the outage of critical data, systems, and applications due to an intrusion or a natural disaster. This outage prevention means you can keep operating your business as normal, even if you’re experiencing a ransomware attack.
It can consequently also give peace of mind by enabling your business to recover its critical data and systems/applications.
BCaaS also enables businesses to use a solution that is fully integrated and tested. It has a proven track record and a shorter time to recovery.
This makes it both a reliable and a fast solution to the ransomware problem. It can react quickly, and ensure that your company isn’t affected by the actions of these malicious individuals.
Finally, BCaaS can be a reliable solution should anything go wrong. Though cybersecurity is reliant on planning and preparation, sometimes inevitably criminals can and do end up accessing company data.
By adopting BCaaS, your company can have a solution to fall back on should this happen to you.
You should now know what exactly Business Continuity as a Service, or BCaaS, is and how it can benefit your company.
If you’d like to learn more about BCaaS, ransomware protection, or other cybersecurity matters, make sure to contact our team directly. We offer many data protection and cybersecurity services to help make sure your company stays secure at all times.