Protect your infrastructure and your data!

• Use robust antivirus protection as well as a firewall on both servers and all client machines.
  These softwares are capable of blocking a virus before it can run in most cases.
• Implement an anti-spam and anti-virus solution for emails to check and filter links and attachments.
  Nearly half of all ransomware attacks succeed through a fraudulent email opened by a user.
• Define a strict backup policy, store backups on multiple outsourced sites and if possible, an off-net storage device.
  In fact, with complete and regular backups it is possible to quickly restore a compromised system while minimizing time and data loss.
• Be wary of users and systematically give as few rights as possible to limit the attack surface for an elevation of privileges.
  Users are the weakest point of any computer system because humans are the source of recurring errors and can, in good faith, compromise a system through simple negligence. This is why users should never be given more rights than necessary to perform their tasks.

• Whatever happens, never pay the ransom!
  Paying the ransom does not guarantee under any circumstances that the hacker will return the data. One should always doubt the honesty of a person committing a crime and practicing blackmail for the purpose of extortion.
• Restore the most recent backup and immediately update the operating system as well as all software.
  The majority of attacks are committed using public vulnerabilities that have been patched in most cases. Systems that are not regularly updated are prime targets for hackers.
• Organize a security audit of the IT infrastructure by IT security specialists.
  It is critical to identify the security hole that allowed the ransomware to be introduced in order to close it immediately and guard against new attacks exploiting the same weakness.
• If no backup is available, seek professional help.
  There are companies that specialize in forensics and data recovery that will be able to help you with data recovery or limit the impact of a loss.

In any case, the best defense against this type of attack is still prevention; it is always easier to protect a computer system upstream than to restore it following an attack.