The occurrence of malware attacks, particularly those involving ransomware, continued to plague American businesses at an alarming rate in 2016, with more than 50% of all businesses suffering at least one attack during the year. In tandem with that chilling statistic is a revelation from a survey conducted by Osterman Research, which showed that only about 4% of all executives felt their companies were secure against the threat of cyber attack.

Growing maturity of cyber attacks

In the worst statistical month of 2016 (March), there were more than 56,000 ransomware attacks alone, and the level of malware maturity and sophistication is increasingly alarming. Ransomware criminals have become so fiercely competitive among themselves that they have begun to hack each other, and release decryption keys so as to undermine competing groups. Additionally, ransomware developers are making their software available to criminal newcomers for profit (Ransomware as a Service [RaaS]), which increases the value of their own creations, and simultaneously proliferates the number of overall attackers in business.

From these survey findings, it would be easy to conclude that in the war against cyber crime, the bad guys are winning. But there is hope. The maturity and technological advancement of security strategies developed by some firms has also taken a quantum leap forward, and when coupled with a company-wide awareness of security threats, it is still possible to avoid the predations of criminal-minded Internet opportunists. One of the best of these solutions is the managed malware and endpoint protection offered by VPLS Solutions, a company headquartered in California, but also having a powerful presence around the globe.

Managed malware and endpoint protection

VPLS’ comprehensive package called Managed Security Solutions, incorporates the best security practices for all of the following:

• end point protection powered by Cylance
• network architecture
• internal Incident Response workflows
• attack prevention
• vulnerability and patch management
• assessment of internal hosts
• assessment of externally-facing services, commonly used by cyber-attackers to secure entry

As you might expect, the only good answer to cyber attack is preparedness and prevention of the invasion – once your security umbrella has been breached, the cost can quickly skyrocket, and your company may have little or no recourse but to pay the ransom demanded, or throw the towel in and admit defeat. This is even more true today than ever, because cyber criminals now make it a point to delete archives and backups immediately upon entry, so a company is left with no data to fall back on while ransom demands are being made.

Recognizing the critical importance of preparedness and prevention, VPLS’ endpoint protection solution emphasizes these strategies:

• utilizes the enormous power of artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to predict and automatically implement prevention tactics prior to the execution of an attack
• reduction of the impact employees can have on security by making strategic use of advanced endpoint security products and shields
• education of company employees about the greatest points of vulnerability and best practices for avoidance of penetration
• prevention of malware execution at the point of attack, before it has a chance to access interior databases and infrastructure

What VPLS can do for your company

As a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) for the Cylance security system, VPLS can arrange for licensing of the Cylance product and provide all consulting required by your company in setting up your barrier against attack. This will include a baseline assessment of your company’s current security profile and readiness against intrusions. Points of vulnerability will be identified and given specific attention during the implementation of CylancePROTECT, and employees will be instructed about how to do their part in maintaining company security.

VPLS is a respected global leader in hosted services, managing more than 10,000 servers which support in excess of 5,000,000 websites across multiple countries of the world. With a highly ranked and well-recognized hosting brand, the company has earned the trust and confidence of companies both large and small throughout the entire world. With a rock-solid hosting company, and a comprehensive security solution like Cylance’s malware and endpoint protection, you can rest easy about your company’s preparedness against cyber intrusions.

Protect your data assets

The old saying about ‘time is money’ has never been more true than today, and it has never been more aptly applied than to the business world of modern times. The prolonged downtime that your company might experience due to a cyber attack can be crippling to your business, and the cost of recovering from such an attack could even threaten your company’s existence. To find out about a managed security solution that will reduce or eliminate that kind of threat, call VPLS today and protect the valuable data assets which are the foundation of your business.