The WannaCry ransomware attack has been devastating to many businesses. Don’t be the next victim. Learn how to make your business immune to any infection, data loss or disaster with Syneto.

The WannaCry ransomware attack has been the largest cyber-attack that the world has ever seen. The first estimates revealed that it had affected over 200 000 IT systems in over 150 countries – but the “real” numbers will most likely turn out to be higher. This incident has affected hospitals, universities, public institutions, as well as numerous private companies from all over the world.

What is ransomware?

Ransomware is a type of malware that blocks the user’s access to all the data until a “ransom” is paid to “unlock” the system again. Businesses and institutions usually give in to the demands, as the “kidnapped” data is vital for them to keep going.
Unfortunately, the attackers claim large amounts of money as ransom and there is no guarantee that the user will gain access to their data after the payment is made or, in fact, that they will not be attacked again.

Worrying statistics

Unfortunately, the trend of cyber-attacks has been growing steadily even before the May 13th attack. Europol has published a report on the matter in the later part of 2016, warning about the dangers of ransomware and trying to educate the public about on the topic. A similar report has been published by the US government the same year.

Here are some very interesting and worrying statistics regarding the evolution of ransomware (last updated March 2018):

• According to a report published by the FBI, more than 4,000 ransomware attacks occur every day.
• According to a study made by Sophos, 54% of the interviewed companies (from 10 different countries) were hit by ransomware in 2017; out of these companies, 77% were running up-to-date antivirus when hit by ransomware.
• 230,000 new malware samples are produced every day — and this is predicted to only keep growing. (according to a report by Panda Security)
• 43% of cyber attacks are aimed at small businesses; 60% of these companies go bankrupt within 6 months of the attack. (via Small Business Trends).

How can you protect your business?

According to Gartner, by 2020 60% of digital businesses will be at risk to suffer service failures due to a lack of appropriate risk management programs. This includes cyber-security threats and the companies’ inability to ensure complete data protection.
So what can you do to keep ransomware away from your data? Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is to try and make sure malware does not get anywhere near your data, by using an anti-malware solution.

However, with the rapid pace at which malware is being developed (remember, Kaspersky found 62 new ransomware families in 2016 alone!), even the best security solutions might be overwhelmed. This is where the importance of back-ups comes in.

Which leads us to our main advice:

Get a self-protecting IT infrastructure

Keep your entire IT infrastructure safe (applications + files) by choosing a solution with built-in self-protection mechanisms. The latest generation of hyperconverged infrastructures offer integrated data replication and protection features which turn a major CryptoLocker infection into a minor data recovery operation.

If your data becomes encrypted with ransomware, the easiest solution is to return the entire system to the state it was in right before the infection occurred.

Many products on the market offer this type of Disaster Recovery features, but in order to avoid as much data loss as possible, you have to choose a solution with low RPO and create a solid Disaster Recovery plan.

Meet the HYPERSeries 3000

The HYPERSeries 3000 is the first self-protecting, all-in-one hyperconverged infrastructure with built-in Disaster Recovery. It is designed, sized and priced specifically for SMBs, ROBOs and small/ medium datacenters.

Great, but how does this help me get rid of malware? The HYPERSeries 3000 creates up to 1440 backups a day for every application, as well as any files on the infrastructure. Backups are then automatically replicated, every minute, to the dedicated DR unit included in the product.

In case of an infection, you can simply restore any file or application from the last backup which occurred no more than 1 minute before the infection event. Losing 1 minute worth of data is better than paying a great amount of money to extortionists with no guarantee, isn’t it?!

Finally, if all the data on the primary unit of the HYPERSeries 3000 is affected, the entire IT infrastructure can be restarted on the DR unit in just 15 minutes.

Want to find out more about how Syneto can help keep you recover fast after a ransomware attack (without paying any ransom)? Get in touch to schedule a demo with one of our experts!