What are the best practices for protecting my organization from ransomware attacks? 

Best practices for protecting your organization from ransomware attacks include implementing a multilayered cybersecurity and data protection approach, as outlined in the NIS2 directive, which emphasizes the importance of risk management measures. This should include solid firewalls, up-to-date antivirus software, and regular system patches to comply with the NIS2 Directive, which mandates the implementation of appropriate security measures.  

Following the 3-2-1-1 backup strategy is essential to ensure recovery. Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) to secure access and conduct ongoing employee cybersecurity training to recognize cyber threats also reflects the educational requirements stipulated in NIS2. Note that the last “1” in 3-2-1-1 is crucial in protecting against ransomware attacks. It represents keeping one copy of your backups in immutable storage, a write-once-read-many (WORM) format that prevents your backups from being altered or deleted, even by unauthorized admins.   

How often should we update our ransomware protection measures? 

You should update your ransomware protection measures regularly, ideally every month or whenever new threats are identified. This practice aligns with the NIS2 requirements for continuous risk assessment and incident response. Ensure that your software patches, antivirus definitions, and security policies are consistently kept up to date, and review your backup and disaster recovery plan at least quarterly to maintain robust protection against evolving ransomware attacks. 

Regularly testing your backups’ integrity by performing restoration exercises and validating that backup schedules function properly ensures you can meet your defined recovery time and recovery point objectives (RTOs/RPOs), which are critical for compliance with the NIS2 Directive’s requirements for incident recovery and business continuity.   

What steps should be taken immediately after detecting a ransomware attack? 

Immediately after detecting a ransomware attack, isolate the affected systems from the network to prevent it from spreading, and disconnect any external storage devices. Notify your IT security team or service provider, initiate your disaster recovery plan, and avoid paying the ransom. 

This is required by the NIS2 Directive and the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), which emphasize the importance of a resilient incident response strategy. Learn more in this post, “How to Respond to a Disaster.” Next, focus on identifying the ransomware variant, restoring your backup data, and reporting the attack to the relevant authorities, as mandated by NIS2, which requires organizations to report significant incidents. Once your data and systems are restored, conduct a post-incident assessment and apply what was learned to improve your ransomware defenses.