On 22 April 2015, AL-Touch shared a Facebook post about CTB-Locker ransomware and the difficulties businesses could face when documents, photographs and work files were encrypted. The post ended with this reminder:

A public reminder from 2015

Always back up your data.

Translated from AL-Touch’s public post · 22 April 2015

Looking back eleven years later, that simple message still deserves every business’s attention.

Backups need to be recoverable

Businesses need to check regularly that important data is included in their backups, that those backups are properly protected, and that they can restore the data when needed. Keeping backups isolated from everyday systems and testing recovery can reduce the risk of backups being damaged in the same incident—or discovering afterwards that they cannot be used.

CISA: Protecting Your Networks from Ransomware

Data protection also means considering exposure

Ransomware attacks may involve data theft, file encryption and threats to disclose information. Even after successfully restoring files, a business still needs to assess whether its accounts, systems and sensitive data have been affected.

HKCERT: Fight Ransomware

Make security preparedness part of everyday work

System updates, account permissions, backups, monitoring and incident-response arrangements all need an assigned owner, regular checks and ongoing improvement. HKCERT also recommends establishing incident-response and business-contingency plans, and carrying out exercises.

HKCERT: Fight Ransomware

This public post from 2015 records AL-Touch sharing information about cybersecurity risks at the time. Continuing that reminder today, we encourage businesses to work through three questions before an incident happens:

Three questions for your business

  1. Where is the important data?
  2. Who is responsible for protecting it?
  3. How would operations be restored after an incident?

Make data protection part of everyday business.

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