Professional Services Organizations are a Top Target of Ransomware Attacks: How Your Firm Can Tighten Its Defenses

Statista says that professional services was the industry most frequently impacted by ransomware in Q4 last year, affecting 22 percent of these firms. Looking back over the past year, Sophos’ The State of Ransomware 2024 report found that 59 percent of organizations were hit by ransomware. But here’s the statistic that can really hurt: 64 percentof business and professional services organizations’ backups were compromised by cyber attackers in the previous year. 

Simply put, your professional services firm will likely become a victim at some time, too.

Hackers target firms like yours because you hold sensitive data—contracts, financial records, or intellectual property. Successful ransomware attacks can not only lead to a substantial financial loss but also cause the trust your clients place in you to take a hit. A single ransomware incident can have devastating consequences. That makes ransomware prevention a priority.

Regulatory Compliance Isn’t Optional

Protecting sensitive client data is a requirement of several mandates that apply to professional services firms. Firms that do business with and in the European Union (EU) must comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which requires that you implement strict data protection measures and promptly report breaches. 

The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) also applies if you are a financial services firm that does business in the EU, with “rules for the protection, detection, containment, recovery, and repair capabilities against [information and communications technology] ICT-related incidents.”

In the U.S., the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB Act) includes requirements relating to consumer financial privacy. And if you do business in or with California consumers, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) requires giving those consumers control over their personal information. 

Plenty of other local, state, and national laws may apply to your firm. But they all point you in the same direction: It’s time to put cybersecurity best practices in place and make sure your ransomware recovery plan is up-to-date and tested to ensure it is effective. Your data backup solutions must be built to withstand ransomware and other attack vectors. 

Bolstering Your Ransomware Defenses

Avoiding the painful consequences of ransomware requires that you take several steps to ensure your data is protected and your backups can’t be compromised.

Adopt a Multi-layered Cybersecurity Approach

A multi-layered cybersecurity strategy gives you comprehensive protection against ransomware and other threats. This includes employing firewalls, endpoint protection, intrusion detection systems (IDS), multi-factor authentication (MFA), and role-based access controls (RBAC) to secure access to sensitive data. AI-powered threat detection tools can also identify suspicious activities before they result in a ransomware infection.

Implement the 3-2-1-1 Backup Strategy

Today’s cybersecurity and ransomware recovery best practices dictate that you use the 3-2-1-1 backup strategyto ensure recovery. The strategy entails keeping three copies of your data, storing them on two different media types, keeping one copy offsite, and keeping one copy in immutable storage. Immutable backups can’t be altered or deleted, even by admins, so you can count on recovering your data.

Keep Systems Patched and Updated

Many ransomware attacks exploit known exploited vulnerabilities in software and systems. Regularly updating software, operating systems, and applications is crucial for closing these security gaps. Automated patch management solutions can help you ensure your systems are updated with the latest security patches, reducing the risk of a successful attack.

Perform Cybersecurity Audits and Risk Assessments

Regular cybersecurity audits and risk assessments help you identify potential vulnerabilities and prioritize improvements. Audits should include reviewing access controls, validating backup processes, and testing incident response, business continuity, and disaster recovery plans to ensure you are prepared to respond effectively to a ransomware attack. 

Provide Ongoing Cybersecurity Awareness Training

Human error is still the number one cause of data breaches. In Proofpoint’s 2024 Voice of the CISO report, 74 percentof chief information security officers (CISOs) said human error was their top security risk. Teach your employees to spot suspicious emails and attachments and avoid clicking malicious links. Regular cybersecurity training combined with simulated phishing exercises can tighten employee vigilance and reduce the risks of a ransomware attack.

Use Network Segmentation to Limit Ransomware’s Spread

You can limit ransomware's spread by dividing your network into multiple segments, with each functioning separately. Isolating network segments ensures that, if one is compromised, the others aren’t affected, containing the ransomware in a controlled environment where it is easier to manage and eradicate.

Test Your Backups

Ensuring the integrity of your backups is vital in ensuring your data can be recovered. Regular backup validation and verification processes help you confirm your data is being backed up properly and can be restored when needed. 

Choose Unified Data Protection

Arcserve Unified Data Protection (UDP) delivers an all-in-one data protection solution that helps you comprehensively retain, back up, and restore your data. The software protects against data loss and extended downtime across cloud, local, virtual, hyperconverged, and SaaS-based workloads. It can reduce your downtime from days to minutes and validate recovery time and recovery point objectives (RTOs/RPOs) and service-level agreements (SLAs) with automated testing and granular reporting. 

With unified data protection and orchestrated recovery across on and off-premises workloads, Arcserve UDP is perfect for safeguarding the sensitive data of professional services firms. Arcserve UDP is compatible with most leading hypervisors and storage options and by global deduplication and compression that significantly cuts required bandwidth and storage requirements.

To learn more about Arcserve UDP, request a demo.