Understanding the Impact of Ransomware on Your Business
/Over the last few years, we’ve seen new technologies enter the scene, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). And while these technologies were developed to improve business workflows and reduce operational costs, there are malicious actors using them for the wrong reasons.
Even as Darth Vader himself says, “If you only knew the power of the dark side,” we can’t succumb to the forces of ransomware attacks, hackers, or cybersecurity threats.
If Mr. Vader isn’t enough of a red flag, in 2023 alone, 75% of companies reported being the victim of at least one ransomware attack; and on top of that, 26% reported being targeted at least four times. Additionally, according to The Hacker News, the volume of attacks grew 55.5% year-over-year from 2022, and that trend is continuing in 2024 with two major attacks to healthcare systems just this year.
So, what does this mean for your company? We recently held a webinar with Halcyon, the leading anti-ransomware platform, and their Global Security and Risk Executive, Ben Carr, to discuss the state of ransomware and what companies must do to protect key assets. This blog highlights some major themes from the conversation, but if you’d like to watch the full webinar, click here.
You need more than just an EDR platform
When evaluating an organization’s cybersecurity posture, many IT teams look to endpoint protection platforms (EPP) or endpoint detection and response platforms (EDR) to secure their assets. An EPP is a type of security solution that protects endpoint solutions, including laptops, desktops, phones, tablets, and servers. An EDR, on the other hand, is a system that gathers data from endpoints to detect threats and respond appropriately.
And while historically these platforms were seen as the highest level of protection, in recent years, we’ve seen threat actors bypassing these platforms’ security and attacking organizations’ core systems.
“In fact, from October through December of 2023, we saw over 2,500 threats bypass endpoint assets,” said Carr, Halcyon's Global Security and Risk Executive. “These endpoint protection platforms are geared more towards protection against malware, which is a very different strand from ransomware. And to go one step further, the EDR cycle isn’t fast enough to react to ransomware behaviors, as it first must detect nuances, investigate them, and then identify a path to respond appropriately; organizations nowadays don’t have the time to wait when there’s a ransomware attack.”
That’s where Halcyon comes in.
Why Halcyon is the difference maker in ransomware
Halcyon is different. Rather than acting as an all-encompassing protection platform, Halcyon is built specifically to protect organizations from ransomware, making them experts in the field.
The Halcyon Platform was developed on three core principles:
Prevention
Data Exfill Prevention
Recovery
Prevention
The goal of Prevention is to stop ransomware attacks before the attacker even breaks into the system.
“We actually deploy an agent that sits on your endpoint, preventing ransomware from executing,” said Carr. “There’s no ransomware payment, no extortion payment, no damage, no disruptions; it’s business as usual.”
Over the last year, Halcyon has stopped 8,000 instances of ransomware attacks.
Data Exfill Prevention
The second principle, Data Exfill Prevention, focuses on data coming and going from systems. Any data that leaves is automatically flagged and prevented from leaving. Instead of assuming the right person with the right access is moving data, Halcyon marks it as malicious and investigates the migration immediately. This prevents data loss and helps organizations maintain compliance.
Recovery
Lastly, the Recovery stage basically acts as a failsafe, in the unlikely event that ransomware does evade the platform.
“Halcyon actually captures the keys from the data encryption and distributes them back to the agent to unencrypt the data,” said Carr. “This ensures faster recovery time, reduces costs, and eliminates backup restoration risk.”
With the state of cybersecurity changing daily, it’s paramount that your organization stays on top of threats with the best cybersecurity solutions on the market to prevent attacks and save you valuable time and money.
If you have any questions about the best solutions for your organization’s needs or are ready to make the switch to a tool that will specifically prevent ransomware, reach out to us today. We’re always here to help!