Checklist for Preventing Ransomware

Chances are you know someone in healthcare whose organization has suffered a ransomware attack – if you are not careful, you could be next. If you haven’t been hit by ransomware personally, you’re either very lucky or you’ve taken some proactive steps to protect your computers and files. If you do get infected with ransomware, unless you’ve got back-ups or the crooks made some kind of cryptographic mistake, you’re left with either paying or losing your locked-up files forever.

Prevention is far better than a cure. So here are 5 tips to protect yourself.

So, what can you do to prevent ransomware attacks?

1. Stay Updated: Ensure browsers, computer operating systems, and applications are on their most current release, and all security patches have been applied to help prevent ransomware attacks!
2. Strong Password Policy: Set complex password standards. Length requirements, special characters, capital and lowercase letters, and numbers encourage employees to use strong, hard-to-guess combinations.
3. Training: Thoroughly train your employees not to open suspicious links or attachments.  This is the most common way hackers place ransomware in your network.
4. Backup: It is extremely important to fully back up critical data on a set and routine basis. This allows you to recover from an attack quickly or not be held hostage to the ransomware.
5. Stay Vigilant: Educate yourself and your workforce on what the current trends are in cyber-attacks and report any suspicious activity.

Even when following the five items above, it is possible that you could still suffer an attack. It is important to dedicate time and resources to your security initiatives. Consider bringing in third-party organizations that come into your organization that can conduct timely and efficient audits and proactively manage your privacy protection efforts. Every possible defense should be evaluated and considered to protect your patients’ privacy.

In the end, it is about preventing ransomware, not reacting to it.