BlogSecurity
Ransomware: prevention and response
By David Otieno, Senior ICT Consultant 1 min read
Patching, MFA, least privilege and protected backups prevent most ransomware damage. Prepare the response before you need it.
Ransomware encrypts data and demands payment. It can stop an organisation for days or weeks.
Prevention
- Patch systems promptly, especially internet-facing ones.
- Require multi-factor authentication for email and remote access.
- Limit administrator rights.
- Filter email and web traffic.
- Segment the network.
Protect backups
Keep at least one backup copy that ransomware cannot reach — offline or immutable — and test restores.
Prepare the response
Decide in advance who leads, how to isolate affected systems, who to contact, and how to communicate.
If it happens
Disconnect affected devices, preserve evidence, restore from clean backups and fix the way attackers got in.
See our cybersecurity services.
About the author
David Otieno
Senior ICT Consultant
David Otieno writes about cybersecurity, physical security systems, power resilience and running IT reliably day to day.