Ransomware Protection: 7 Tips to Protect Data Against Ransomware

Aaron Lim
The Creative Blogger Community
4 min readOct 18, 2021
7 Tips to protect data against ransomware
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While the internet space can be a wonderful place to go, there will always be risks we need to be aware of. Especially in these times where transactions are instant, internet users still face danger. More and more cases of cyber threats and attacks have been rampant and everyone needs to be alert. This is why we need to learn ransomware protection tips.

One of the most common and harmful things we can encounter on the internet is ransomware. This is a cyber threat that encrypts files to make them unusable or prevents the owner from accessing their computer. A reason why it’s called “ransomware” is that the attackers would demand money in exchange for the files.

For us to avoid these happenings, sufficient knowledge and practices in surfing the internet is needed. That is why we listed 7 ransomware protection tips for you and your team.

1. Prepare Regular Backups and a Recovery Plan

Prepare regular backups & a recovery plan to protect data against ransomware
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Doing this simple and easy step already invalidates the power of ransomware. Once you prepare and create backups, you won’t need to worry about the effects of ransomware. One good strategy is to organize your files and create a backup of the important files that you need. This can be in the form of a cloud drive or storing it in an external storage device.

2. Update Your OS and Antivirus Software

Update your OS and antivirus software protect data against ransomware
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Another simple step and very easy way to avoid ransomware attack is to update your software. These include your OS and antivirus. According to experts, outdated software is more prone to cyberattacks and viruses.

The little inconvenience of an update may save you lots of time and money in the future. One tip to help you is that you can update your software at a time you won’t use your computer. This is also a simple but effective way of protecting websites from cyberattacks

3. Scan All Emails and Downloaded Files

Scan all emails and downloaded files
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Harmful elements like ransomwares can enter your computer via emails or downloaded files. This is very alarming especially because most of the time, people don’t take notice of this. One way you can prevent this is to enable email filtering. By integrating your antivirus software in your browser, it’ll help detect malicious software.

4. Restrict Non-Administrator Privileges

Restrict non-administrator privileges to protect data against ransomware
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A good security measure to follow is to limit administrator rights in your computer. This helps prevent the virus or ransomware from taking control of a network of computers. Restricting privileges to users will not let them do installations. This is because unnecessary installations may contain viruses and malicious elements.

5. Update Default or Weak Passwords to Secure Ones

Update default or weak passwords to secure ones
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Updating a password is an overlooked security flaw to most people. Hackers evolve in a way that they can do brute force attacks. Brute force attack is a trial and error method in which they use a program to crack your password.

This is why updating with a secured password is a must. Security expert says that a secured password contains a symbol and a number. This is especially important to secure websites against brute force attacks.

6. Train Your Team to Spot Cyber Threats

Train your team to spot cyber threats
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Sharing is caring. People can avoid these types of attacks by having enough knowledge of the subject. By cascading what you know to your team, they will also know the things they can do against ransomwares.

7. Know The Devices Connected to Your Network

Know the devices connected to your network
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People should know that ransomwares can also enter other devices other than computers. These include mobile phones, media devices or anything connected to your network. People can plan and research how to protect these devices. This is so that the whole network of devices won’t be infected.

Final Thoughts

Knowledge is power and prevention is key. Knowing all these tips above will protect you against cyberattacks on the internet. Keep yourself always updated with these tips so you can browse the internet space safely.

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