The Severity of the Ransomware Threat
Ransomware is one of the fastest-growing cyber threats in today’s digital landscape. Where national governments and large enterprises were once the primary targets, local governments, and smaller organizations are now becoming increasingly lucrative victims to most hackers – with an alarming US$ 456.8 million being extorted through ransomware within 2022 alone. Statista reported that the global cost of cybercrime was an estimated US$ 8.4 trillion in 2022 and that the cost of incidents caused by illegal activities on the internet is set to surpass US$ 11 trillion by the end of 2023.
Ransomware threats and attacks can devastate a company’s financial posture, breach critical data, and destroy a public reputation – which is impossible for most small to medium enterprises to recover from. The need for adequate cybersecurity and anti-ransomware solutions is expected to only grow within the next few years due to the drastic increase of attacks taking place and their growing sophistication.
This is where Sangfor’s Anti-Ransomware solution enters the fray to provide a revolutionary approach to identifying and preventing all aspects of the ransomware kill chain – giving your organization a secure and reliable platform to mitigate the risk of ransomware in the future.
The Only Total Solution to Stop Ransomware
Breaking Every Step in the Ransomware Kill Chain
Ransomware is malware that locks your data until a ransom is paid, following a “Kill Chain” of infection, encryption, and spreading. Point products alone can’t stop it, as gaps between them allow breaches. WannaCry demonstrated this by infecting 200,000 systems in 150 countries within four days. A holistic solution is essential. Sangfor’s Security Solution for Ransomware offers an innovative strategy that disrupts every step of the Kill Chain, effectively mitigating ransomware attacks.
Stage 1: Detect & Block Malware and Ransomware Infection
Sangfor Engine Zero is a new approach to malware identification and blocking. It uses a multi-stage AI analysis engine with a 99.65% detection rate. Engine Zero is built into Sangfor NGAF – The Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) with Endpoint Security to identify malicious files at both the network level and endpoints. Anything that the on-premise capabilities cannot analyze is automatically sent to the cloud-based Neural-X sandbox.
Stage 2: Detect & Block C&C Communications
Next generation anti-virus (NGAV) and anti-malware cannot identify direct malware command & control (C&C) communications. Firewalls can track communications to potential C&C servers, but they cannot verify if the communications are valid or malicious. Sangfor NGAF with Endpoint Secure not only validates malicious C&C communications but can query the endpoints to conduct a self-scan to search for infections, making it an effective anti-ransomware tool. If an infection is found, NGAF will terminate all communications outbound to C&C servers.
Stage 3: Detect & Block Exploitation
Endpoint Secure is a potent ransomware prevention solution as it installs advanced ransomware honeypot technology to quickly identify and kill file encryption processes before major damage is done. The ransomware honeypot installs bait files in the directories most likely to be encrypted first. Once a bait file is touched by an encryption process, Endpoint Secure can immediately kill the encryption process and identify the (normally hidden) controlling file. A hash signature is created for the controlling file and is sent to NGAF to query all other endpoints for the malware file. If found, the administrator can delete all instances of the file across the network with a single click.
Stage 4: Detect & Block Propagation
Without an anti-ransomware solution, malware will spread to other vulnerable systems quickly, sometimes within only a few minutes. NGAF with Endpoint Secure can quickly isolate infected systems from the network to prevent this from happening. In some cases, the infected system may need to be operational for business requirements and cannot be isolated. Sangfor’s NGAF can identify unusual or unauthorized connections passing between endpoints across network segments. Those connections can be terminated to prevent the spread of malware across the network segments. And Sangfor NGAF is the only firewall that can graphically display allowed, suspicious, and malicious connections in real-time, enhancing its stature as a leading cyber security solution in the fight against malware and ransomware.
Sangfor Anti-Ransomware Solution Advantage
Sangfor’s Security Solution for Ransomware is the only complete, holistic security solution to prevent and mitigate ransomware attacks in real-time. No other anti-ransomware prevention tool can impact every step in the ransomware kill chain and no other solution is modular enough to be tailored to the requirements and budget of an organization. Sangfor Anti-Ransomware solution is:
- Only solution that is proven to block every step in the ransomware kill chain
- Only solution with direct integration between firewall and endpoint agents, and not using TI or management console as a go-between
- Firewall can block C2 communications and lateral propagation based on direct endpoint input
- NGAF Network Firewall can verify that endpoint is infected based on C2 communications
- Only solution with a ransomware honeypot that effectively stops the encryption process and identifies the controlling application network wide
FAQs
Who gets targeted by ransomware?
There is no specific target when it comes to ransomware attacks as all businesses – from small and medium-sized enterprises to major firms – may be caught in the crosshairs. A total of 236.1 million ransomware attacks worldwide were reported during the first half of 2022 alone and research stated that 54% of respondents indicated the use of phishing scams as the most common cause of a ransomware breach. Anyone can be a victim of a ransomware attack – which is why implementing the right cybersecurity measures is crucial for you and your organization.
What are the most common ways to be infected by ransomware?
Phishing emails with malicious attachments are one of the major causes of ransomware attacks. Additionally, drive-by downloading has also been attributed to many ransomware-related issues. Essentially, drive-by downloading is where an individual visits a website infected with ransomware unknowingly, which results in the ransomware being downloaded and installed on the system the user is operating on. This triggers the Ransomware Kill Chain, and the only way to effectively stop it is with a trusted ransomware prevention solution like Sangfor’s Security Solution for Ransomware.
What damage can be caused by a ransomware attack?
Companies that fall victim to ransomware attacks stand to lose a lot. Not only are they at risk of suffering data loss and data theft, but they may also experience financial losses as a result of paying the ransom demanded. IT costs, legal fees, network modifications, a decrease in productivity, and potential loss in reputation are among the other pitfalls that may befall companies. With the frequency of attacks on the rise, and big payouts already having occurred, many firms are seeking top of the line cybersecurity services to ensure they are protected against all types of attacks, including ransomware.
