Ransomware is on the Rise: Are you Prepared?

Recent statistics paint a grim picture: ransomware attacks are skyrocketing, with the average ransom demand reaching millions of dollars. High-profile cases, like the recent attacks on Ascension Health and Medisecure, demonstrate the devastating consequences of these attacks. In 2024 alone, 389 healthcare organizations in the United States fell victim to successful ransomware attacks, leading to network shutdowns, offline systems, delays in critical medical procedures, and the rescheduling of patient appointments.

What's even more concerning is the shift in tactics, with a concerning increase in attacks targeting both cloud and on-prem assets . While early ransomware attacks often relied on widespread, “spray and pray” tactics, today's cybercriminals are laser-focused on exploiting identity vulnerabilities. Compromised credentials - whether they belong to employees, customers, or partners - are the keys to the kingdom in many ransomware attacks. Gaining access to legitimate accounts lets attackers bypass traditional security measures and move laterally within cloud-based and on-prem networks, escalating access privileges and deploying ransomware that endangers employee and consumer data.

According to Microsoft’s 2024 Digital Defense Report, most ransomware attacks are perpetrated using social engineering tactics such as email, SMS, and voice phishing. By compromising the identities of legitimate users, attackers are able to quickly exploit existing systems vulnerabilities.

The exploitation of privileged accounts helps attackers gain a foothold, and poor identity governance and administration (IGA) practices, such as weak passwords, over-privileged accounts, and a lack of multi-factor authentication, further amplify the risk. In essence, every weak link in your identity security chain becomes a potential entry point for ransomware.

Mounting a Holistic Defense

Ransomware's impact ripples across an organization, affecting not just internal operations, but also your relationships with your customers and end-users. To combat this growing threat, organizations must prioritize a holistic approach to identity security, including:

• Prioritize Strong Passwords and MFA: Enforce strong, unique passwords for all user accounts and implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) wherever possible. This adds an extra layer of security, making it harder for attackers to gain access even if they obtain a password.
• Zero Trust Security Model: Adopt a Zero Trust approach to security, which assumes that no user or device can be trusted by default. Verify every access request, regardless of its origin.
• Privileged Access Management (PAM): Implement a PAM solution to control and monitor access to privileged accounts. This helps prevent attackers from gaining elevated privileges and causing widespread damage.
• Just-in-Time Provisioning: Grant users access to resources only when they need them and revoke access when it's no longer required. This reduces the window of vulnerability for compromised accounts.
• Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR): Deploy ITDR solutions to monitor for and respond to identity-based threats in real-time. This helps identify suspicious login attempts, compromised accounts, and other malicious activity.

Ways to Protect Your Organization from Ransomware Attacks

Strengthen Your Identity-Based Defenses

• Prioritize Strong Passwords and MFA: Enforce strong, unique passwords for all user accounts and implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) wherever possible. This adds an extra layer of security, making it harder for attackers to gain access even if they obtain a password.
• Zero Trust Security Model: Adopt a Zero Trust approach to security, which assumes that no user or device can be trusted by default. Verify every access request, regardless of its origin.
• Privileged Access Management (PAM): Implement a PAM solution to control and monitor access to privileged accounts. This helps prevent attackers from gaining elevated privileges and causing widespread damage.
• Just-in-Time Provisioning: Grant users access to resources only when they need them and revoke access when it's no longer required. This reduces the window of vulnerability for compromised accounts.
• Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR): Deploy ITDR solutions to monitor for and respond to identity-based threats in real-time. This helps identify suspicious login attempts, compromised accounts, and other malicious activity.

Secure Your Identity Infrastructure

• Centralized Identity Management: Implement a centralized identity management system to manage user identities and access across all systems and applications. This provides a single source of truth for identity data and simplifies access control.
• Secure Identity Stores: Protect your identity stores (e.g., Active Directory) with robust security measures, including regular backups, access controls, and monitoring.
• Regular Identity Audits: Conduct regular audits of user accounts and access privileges to identify and remediate any inconsistencies or vulnerabilities.
• Secure Authentication Protocols: Use secure authentication protocols like SAML and OAuth to protect user credentials during authentication and authorization processes.

Empower Users with Security Awareness

• Identity Security Training: Educate users about identity-related security threats, such as phishing scams, social engineering attacks, and password best practices.
• Promote Password Hygiene: Encourage users to create strong, unique passwords and to avoid reusing passwords across multiple accounts.
• Report Suspicious Activity: Encourage users to report any suspicious activity, such as unrecognized login attempts or phishing emails, to the IT security team.

Proactive Defense is Your Best Defense

KeyData Cyber is a leading IAM systems integrator and MSP with a proven track record of helping organizations secure their identities and protect their critical assets for nearly 20 years. Contact us today for a comprehensive complimentary assessment workshop or consultation. Now is the perfect time to build a resilient defense against ransomware and safeguard your future.