Ransomware detection and reactions

Enterprise anti-ransomware software was developed to safeguard data of users as a response to the phenomenon of ransomware that is a serious threat as well as one of the most significant threats to cybersecurity today. But, it’s an entirely new kind of threat, as the significant ransomware attacks began over three years ago. it took some time before the public realized that ransomware was an entirely new threat that is different and more dangerous than normal malware.

Naturally, many were expecting antivirus software to deal with this latest threat, as has occurred with all kinds of dangers throughout the past. However, it was discovered that the standard antivirus programs do not have the capability of stopping and detecting ransomware an acceptable degree. The anti-malware method of stopping malicious processes in a proactive manner is not effective with ransomware because it mimics the behavior of users very well. In addition it comes in a variety of applications that have features specifically designed to block antivirus technology such as Sandbox, Application Control, Heuristics and so on. Only signature-based detection will stop ransomware however, unfortunately, it does not perform against custom or new versions and is constantly updated.

In this regard there are new anti-ransomware enterprise-specific software technologies have emerged to offer security for enterprises against ransomware. It detects ransomware in a reactive manner in response to the actions it performs on a system, but not in a proactive manner, prior to when it begins to execute. These are the major advantages of anti ransomware products that are specialized:

Responses to ransomware and detection

The technique of reacting to detect ransomware enables a more precise detection system that can block new and customized ransomware variants, without relying on signatures and updates. However this method of behavioral analysis permits the ransomware to run in a way that certain files could be encrypted at the time that the malicious process has been stopped and is subsequently quarantined. Certain implementations also offer protection for the Master Boot Record to protect against ransomware which tries to start up its own software. Also, detection strategies which combine behavior analysis with honeypot detection methods that require the placement of decoys and then observing them. Certain methods rely solely on the latter, however their effectiveness in stopping ransomware is a questionable.

In addition to stopping and quarantining the ransomware’s payload and removing the ransomware payload, the anti-ransomware program allows IT administrators to handle the incident by halting the affected system, notifying the administrator and the user and, on rare instances it can isolate the affected computer completely from networks.

In terms of the rate of detection, it is much higher than that of the traditional antivirus systems and allows for a fast response to ransomware attacks that reduce the amount of downtime and loss of data. In the case of false positives, a lot of solutions have a decent rate but only on rare occasions it is able to ensure a minimal amount (next up to one) number of false negatives.

Backup capabilities in real-time based on changes to files

Since detection can occur in a matter of minutes or seconds after ransomware is executed, anti-ransomware technologies should provide a method to retrieve the encrypted files prior to the time that the ransomware process shut down. Therefore, certain solutions incorporate the ability to backup in real-time to ensure that encrypted files can be retrieved when the encryption process has been stopped.

There are a variety of applications for enterprise anti-ransomware however, in general the strategy relies on analysing modifications to files and making copies of the files that have been altered in a suspicious manner. Certain solutions use the Windows shadow copy function to accomplish this, however there’s a danger when using this method since the majority of ransomware families ensure that data cannot be recovered this way.

File protection capabilities

In addition to detecting ransomware and restoring the affected data during the detection process certain anti-ransomware programs also offer protection against ransomware through the creation of copies of user files that are placed in secured zones in the local drive. This means that even if the ransomware targets the file, it will not be able to access the protected area and consequently, cannot attack the copies that are protected. Technically , this allows data to be recovered in the event of ransomware attacks that succeed. The safe repository could be utilized by backup software to guarantee encryption-free backups.