05-08-20 | Blog Post

Recap: Ransomware preparedness with Otava, Veeam and MSPs

Blog Posts

Did you miss our ransomware roundtable — the latest installment of our Java with Otava series? Not to fear! You can get everything you need (and more!) from this handy dandy recap.

Check out the recording for full details below.

The roundtable featured Whit Ehrich, CEO of MSP Hill Tech Country Guys; Howard Trumbull, Product Manager at MSP JMARK; Adam Goslin, CSO at Otava; and Brandon McCoy, Senior Systems Engineer at Veeam. The group was moderated by Jeremy Bigler, Director of Product at Otava. Our panel covered many topics throughout the roundtable, starting first by discussing the main strains of ransomware prevalent in the industry today, and what they’re seeing in terms of risk mitigation

First off, what is ransomware? It is malicious software that restricts access to a computer or the files on a computer until a ransom amount is paid, usually in the form of Bitcoin or other encrypted currency. It is most commonly spread through phishing email, but it can also be spread through trojans, removable media (USB drives), malvertising, social media and Ransomware as a Service.

Technical risk mitigation

Our panel recommends following the Golden Rule of backup: 3 different copies of your data, on 2 different media, 1 of which is offsite. When ransomware or other malware hits, the surest way to recovery is to restore from backup. Because some types of ransomware are known to infect even local backup copies (these strains actively look for backup file extensions), it’s critical to keep a data copy offsite.

Our panel also discussed the Great BYOD (bring your own device) when it comes to distributed and remote workforces: Is it safer to invest in remote desktop services (RDS) or should IT teams try to secure employees’ personal devices if they’re stuck working at home?

There was some debate back and forth, but everyone agreed that there’s no simple answer–it all depends on the risk tolerance of your business. According to Adam Goslin, there’s a large volume of considerations that need to go into making that decision. Using a RDS can allow an organization to contorl the backups of those machines–something that can be a huge advantage in the age of ransomware and malware. Instead of trusting employees to do their own backups (not always reliable), you can set a specific window for backups to be executed. But, as Howard points out, if bad actors can get into a remote desktop, they are essentially in the entire employee network (as everything is connected), versus only a specific laptop. In the end, it’s best for the organization to scrutinize its policies and ultimately determine what level of risk it can tolerate.

For more insights from our panel, be sure to listen to the full recording above. And, you can always check out our full library of Java with Otava videos, as well as our related articles on ransomware below.

Related Articles

Ransomware preparedness with cloud solutions: According to a recent IDC survey, about 50 percent of organizations said they could not survive a disaster event, with 91 percent of respondents experiencing a tech-related business distruption in the past two years. Most organizations are already using cloud technology for their everyday business activities, but consider how it can help you prepare for a ransomware attack before it hits. Below are four ways you can set up your environment to be more resilient against a ransomware attack. (Read more)

What are the top sources of ransomware infection? Ransomware is forecast to cost $170 billion worldwide in 2020, and it’s well known that it can infect businesses of all sizes, industries and revenue anywhere around the world. What can you do to prevent a ransomware attack? (Read more)

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