Every day, Canadian organizations face cyber threats that have a tangible impact on their operations. New Brunswick Liquor, a provincial crown corporation, couldn’t accept debit and credit card payments from customers for at least a week after a cyberattack. In another area of the country, an attack at an Ontario Catholic school board compromised staff and student data.
There’s one particular form of threat that is currently worrying local businesses, with over 195.4 million records were breached in 1,204 confirmed attacks in 2024: ransomware. Besides the potential loss of sensitive and confidential information, these threats can result in significant financial loss, too.
If your company wants to prepare effectively, you’ll need to understand the evolving tactics of bad actors leveraging this malicious software and implement robust cybersecurity measures.
Keep reading to learn actionable insights for Calgary-based businesses on how to plan ahead and respond to ransomware threats. We’ll also discuss how managed IT services can help you ensure more effective ransomware protection.
What is Ransomware, and Why is it a Growing Threat?
The anatomy of a ransomware attack is simple to understand.
- Initial access: First, a bad actor finds a way to successfully breach your system. Unfortunately, many organizations make cybersecurity mistakes that create vulnerabilities in their infrastructure, such as neglecting to patch their applications or falling victim to social engineering campaigns that trick employees into inviting criminals in.
- Reconnaissance: Once inside, these cybercriminals may linger for weeks undetected while they get to know your system and find footholds to retain access and gain more control. During this time, they will also likely exfiltrate data to use for extortion.
- Deployment: When they are ready, the bad actors will install malicious software that encrypts your data to lock you out – meaning you can’t access your critical digital resources.
- Extortion: They then attempt to extort you to pay a ransom for them to give you back control over your IT. Expert consensus is that you shouldn’t pay the ransom – in fact, the UK government recently proposed a ransom payment ban for all public sector organizations. It’s not a guarantee that you’ll receive your data and it only incentivizes cybercriminals to launch more attacks.
The extortion phase can damage a business’s productivity and reputation. If an organization can’t access its data, it won’t be able to perform its usual day-to-day functions. Their customers won’t be happy with delayed or halted service, and they’ll be angry if their own data is exposed – meaning that your working relationship could end up permanently severed.
How Ransomware Tactics Are Evolving
Ransomware has always been a threat – but it’s getting even more serious as technology evolves and cybercriminals leverage innovations to hone their methods.
Artificial intelligence has empowered them to scale their attacks, giving them the tools to quickly write code and phishing emails or analyze data.
These bad actors have also taken inspiration from the IT space and have created professional models to operationalize their crimes by providing Ransomware-as-a-Service (RAaS). They create their code, then sell it to hackers via a one-time fee or offer more extensive support via a subscription model. The hackers then pay the RAsS provider a portion of the ransom they receive from their victims.
This increase in sophistication is alarming to cybersecurity experts, who see this model as enabling criminals to massively increase their devastating impact on individuals and organizations worldwide.
How Businesses Can Prepare for Ransomware Attacks
There’s good news! Your organization can take action to boost your cyber resilience and implement IT security measures that prioritize prevention. The key will be building a multi-layered defense that holistically protects your IT infrastructure.
Your ransomware protection should include:
Proactive IT monitoring
Understanding what is happening with your IT infrastructure is key to adequate protection. Cybercriminals will have a more challenging time remaining undetected in your system if you have a watchful eye on all activity. Your organization should leverage advanced tools that perform real-time threat analysis to support timely ransomware detection – before hackers can cause damage.
Beyond installing tools like anti-virus and anti-spyware software, consistent monitoring can also help with ransomware prevention. When organizations conduct regular cyber security audits, they can find and resolve any weaknesses in their infrastructure before any bad actors can exploit them.
Staff IT training
Human error causes most cyberattacks – around 68%, according to recent research. That’s why educating your employees on cybersecurity best practices needs to be a high-priority prevention effort. Suppose your team knows more about social engineering. They’ll be likelier to spot it when using digital work tools and, therefore, less likely to open doors for would-be attackers.
Zero Trust framework
The traditional perimeter-based defense style will no longer be sufficient with attackers leveraging increasingly sophisticated methods. Instead, every organization needs to embrace the more modern “zero trust” approach. That means acting as if a breach is inevitable and implementing mechanisms that make it harder for cybercriminals to take action once inside.
Preventing lateral movement inside your infrastructure will require integrating strict access control and encryption, as well as setting up security tools that cover your entire digital ecosystem: your endpoints, cloud environments, network, servers, email systems, etc.
Business continuity planning
Despite your best efforts, a cyber-attack can still happen – so it’s crucial to take proactive action so your organization can recover swiftly, reduce financial loss, and continue operating to your expected level, such as:
- Secure file backups: This is a necessary tactic to ensure that your staff can continue accessing vital data and resources, even if their local files have been temporarily frozen or lost. It will also make it less tempting to pay ransom to any cybercriminals – they can’t hold your data over you if you have another version in your possession.
- Cyber incident response plan: Effective continuity planning should involve spending time in advance outlining the details of your team’s roles and responsibilities during a crisis. This playbook will provide guidance, helping them move quickly and effectively when something goes wrong, rather than delaying a resolution by trying to figure out what to do during a stressful time.
- Cyber insurance: Your organization may want to take out a policy, particularly if you operate in a higher-risk industry. A provider can help cover costs you incur during an attack, such as system restoration, customer refunds, or legal assistance.
How Cybersecurity and Managed IT Services Can Help
Implementing effective ransomware protection can be significantly easier with skilled IT professionals by your side. When you hire a managed IT provider, they can oversee the work involved with IT strategy and planning, as well as integrating stronger IT security measures to bolster your security posture. Their experts are also more well-versed in malware remediation, letting you offload the work and focus on your regular tasks.
Partner with Bulletproof IT to strengthen your business
A ransomware attack can devastate an organization’s ability to survive in our modern business environment. Yet if you invest time and resources into detection, protection, and prevention, your business will be better equipped to lessen the consequences and weather any storms.
Bulletproof IT offers comprehensive managed IT for Calgary, Red Deer, and other Alberta businesses. As part of our netSHIELD+ managed IT services, you’ll benefit from our cybersecurity solutions that will increase your resilience for the long term.
Contact us to discuss how we can empower you to safely use your technology and drive success.