The NSA Weighs in on RBVM

Now a core recommendation for preventing ransomware

On June 2, The White House issued a memo urging business leaders to take immediate steps to protect and prepare their organizations against ransomware attacks, CNBC reported Wednesday.

“The first step in any successful ransomware attack is finding vulnerabilities that can be compromised in order to enable encrypting the system,” said Anne Neuberger, Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology in the Biden administration.

The White House memo warns that cybercriminals are shifting from stealing data to disrupting core business operations and outlines five best practices for safeguarding against ransomware attacks:

• Backing up images, configurations and system images
• Conducting regular testing and keeping those backups offline
• Updating and patching systems promptly
• Testing incident response plans and checking the security team’s work and
• segmenting the organization’s networks

When it comes to updating and patching systems, Neuberger encouraged business executives to “use a risk-based assessment strategy to drive your patch management program.”

“We need the private sector to ensure their cyber security defenses are adequate to meet the threat,” added Neuberger. “All organizations must recognize that no company is safe from being targeted by ransomware, regardless of size or location.”

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