Preventing Ransomware Attacks on Agricultural Cooperatives

In recent years, ransomware attacks have become increasingly prevalent and are a major threat to businesses of all kinds, including agricultural cooperatives. These types of attacks can cause significant disruption to operations and financial losses, making it critical for agricultural cooperatives to take proactive steps to prevent such attacks from occurring.

How to Prevent Ransomware Attacks on Agricultural Cooperatives

Here are five tips...

Keep your software up-to-date

Ensuring that all software applications and operating systems are updated to the latest version is crucial in protecting against ransomware attacks. Hackers often exploit vulnerabilities in outdated software to gain access to computer systems.

Regularly updating software is essential to keep your systems secure and that is why the Agvance Hosted solution is a valuable tool in avoiding ransomware vulnerability. With Hosted, the SSI Information Services staff utilizing AWS infrastructure is responsible for making sure software and Windows versions are updated.

Install and update anti-virus software

It is important to have anti-virus software installed on all computers and ensure that it is updated regularly. This software can detect and remove malicious software that may attempt to infiltrate your systems. Some anti-virus software can also identify potential ransomware attacks and prevent them from executing.

Sophos on the hosted servers offered through SSI is the backbone for detecting malicious software and is updated on a regular schedule.

Use strong passwords and enable two-factor authentication

Strong passwords that are difficult to guess can provide an extra layer of security. Additionally, enabling two-factor authentication can provide an additional level of security to protect against unauthorized access to systems.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) can be installed to force authentication to sensitive data areas. This can be accomplished in either the Agvance SKY tools or by accessing Agvance through RDP sessions.

Backup your data regularly

Regularly backing up your data is critical in mitigating the effects of a ransomware attack. In the event of an attack, having up-to-date backups of your data can allow you to restore your systems to a previous state, minimizing the damage caused by the attack.

SSI recognized this critical requirement and has full SQL server data backups nightly along with hourly differentials. To complete this picture, nightly backups of the entire server are also important to assure your data setup is protected.

Educate employees on cybersecurity

Educating employees on the risks of ransomware attacks and providing them with training on how to identify and avoid potential threats can help prevent attacks from occurring. This education should include topics such as how to recognize suspicious emails, how to avoid downloading malicious software, and how to report any suspicious activity.

SSI takes this area very seriously and employs an insurance-backed ransomware training series as well as constant employee testing through training emails emulating phishing attacks. We highly recommend this approach to keep all staff aware of the dangers of phishing attacks.

Watch the video to see how SSI can help with Agvance Hosted services.

Be Proactive

In conclusion, ransomware attacks are a serious threat to agricultural cooperatives, and it is crucial to take proactive measures to prevent them from occurring. Implementing the tips outlined above can help protect your cooperative from these types of attacks and minimize the damage caused in the event of an attack.