The Rise of Ransomware report has been released, and the details regarding the impact of ransomware on SMEs is incredibly shocking. The details were laid out in an article by ZDNet.
According to ZDNet, 68% of SMEs considered themselves vulnerable, if not very vulnerable to a ransomware attack. However, the knowledge of the threat has not been enough to trigger a preventative ransomware solution; only 13% of SMEs felt highly prepared for a ransomware attack.
SMEs Are Not Immune
The lack of preparedness could be for two reasons. First, SMEs don’t view themselves as a ransomware target; thinking hackers have bigger fish to fry. This could not be further from the truth. Everyone is a target, from home users to large enterprises, and everyone in between. Thinking you’re not a target will lead to simple errors which could lead you to become the next victim, simply because you were ill-prepared or not on alert for these threats.
The second reason may go back to their security solutions and their lack of confidence in their security protection. Of those who participated, only 27% SMEs were highly confident in their endpoint security.
This leaves us questioning, what has to give for SMEs to look into an alternative security solution? Many of today’s solutions are reactive. Meaning if an infection occurs, they will identify it and try and correct the issue. This is impossible with ransomware. Once your files are encrypted they will remain that way unless you restore with your backup files–assuming you have them and they are not encrypted too.
Time For Change
It is time businesses, regardless of the size, begin implementing a security solution that proactively detects malware, prior to infection. One of the best methods in preventative detection is application whitelisting. Application whitelisting only allows trusted applications to run. This risk mitigation tool has been proven incredibly successful in third-party testing. PC Matic Pro, which uses application whitelisting as their primary detection tool, recently scored 99.9% proactive malware detection rate in Virus Bulletin’s Reactive and Proactive (RAP) Test. Application whitelisting has also been encouraged by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI. The NSA has also added whitelisting to their best practices.
It is time for change. Our security solutions of the past are no longer working against today’s modern threats. Application whitelisting is the only, proven effective, proactive malware solution.
