Real World: Lessons from Microsoft on ransomware risk

Tech giant Microsoft is sharing lessons its team has learned about reducing ransomware risk. To start, Microsoft has compiled what it calls the Foundational Five of Ransomware, which it believes are the key principles to fighting ransomware. They are: 

1. Modern authentication – this refers to having phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication to help prevent threat actors from signing in to your systems.
2. Automatic cloud backup and file syncing – this helps ensure your data stays safe and accessible.
3. Threat- and risk-free environments – Microsoft notes that it may not be possible to guarantee an entirely risk-free environment, but it’s something we should try to achieve.
4. Posture management – this protects against exploitation of vulnerable services and applications, as well as potential compromising situations during scheduled tasks.
5. Least privileged access – this helps prevent ransomware attacks by limiting users’ access to systems and devices to only what they need to do their work.

To get started with the Foundational Five, Microsoft recommends progressively building up your ransomware strategy.

Source: https://www.microsoft.com/insidetrack/blog/lessons-learned-at-microsoft-five-steps-you-can-take-to-reduce-your-ransomware-risk/