Is Your Company Prepared for a Ransomware Attack?

Phishing and Ransomware are among the biggest security threats faced by AP departments today. As discussed in the previous post, phishing involves fraudsters pretending to be trustworthy entities and, through email, text or even over the phone, tricking employees into giving them money or sensitive information.

On the other hand, ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts the victim’s data, preventing them from accessing business-crucial information. To regain access, the victim must pay a ransom. Ransomware is commonly spread through phishing emails and is considered one of the most damaging cyberthreats out there today.

Not preparing for an attack is preparing to fail

Effective prevention and response plans can mean the difference between a contained incident and a company-wide infection. First, let’s discuss preventative measures that can help your organization reduce the risk of infection*:‍

Clean credential practices: Good credential hygiene reduces the risk of unauthorized network access.

‍Employee training: Regular cybersecurity training focused on phishing, malicious email attachments and other social engineering tactics.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA): MFA should be made mandatory wherever possible to reduce the risk of unauthorized access.

Review Active Directory: Regular review of the Active Directory (AD) to find and close potential breach points such as compromised service accounts, or former employee logins, which often have administrative privileges and are a popular target for attackers looking to obtain credentials.

Network segregation: Effective network segregation contains incidents and minimizes wider disruption to the business.

Secure remote access: As RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) is an extremely popular attack point, organizations must take steps to ensure remote access is only available via certain networks or MFA-enabled VPN and limited only to users who require it for their work.

How does a digital AP solution fend off ransomware attacks?

A digital payments program is an intelligent and secure solution that can protect your AP team — and your bottom line. It does this in the following ways:

Differentiating between fraudulent and legitimate invoices: Your suppliers are informed of the proper channel to send an invoice. Finexio performs Know-Your-Customer (KYC) due diligence on its customers and suppliers to ensure accuracy and safety of payment accounts. As an extra layer of security, Finexio leverages data appending and cleansing tools to confirm 2nd and 3rd party information.

Limiting roles to specific users: Paper checks tend to pass through many hands before they get to the intended recipient. Not only does this increase the risk of the payment getting lost, but it also makes your AP process more susceptible to interception by fraudsters.

With a digital AP solution, the payment goes directly to the intended recipient. Finexio’s instant bank verification process supplies real-time verification of valid, active and correct bank accounts, allowing for seamless payments between buyers and suppliers. With fewer hands involved, it’s much easier to train people to spot the telltale signs of fraudulent transactions.

Ensuring full visibility into your accounts payable: What if an erroneous transaction does occur? Digital AP lets you see all transactions in any given period, allowing you to pinpoint where the money went and find the errors. This gives insight into how you can improve your process and prevent mistakes from happening again.

Utilizing the cloud to store data: The cloud is one of the safest places to store data today. Not only are files encrypted in the cloud — preventing fraudsters from accessing the contents — but they can only be accessed by those with certain credentials. Trusted by thousands of companies worldwide, Amazon’s AWS cloud service keeps all Finexio data secure, compliant, and encrypted. As the largest cloud services provider in the world, Amazon’s digital security infrastructure is unmatched, letting Finexio and its customers rest assured of best practice data security.

Is your AP department prepared for a ransomware attack? Shore up your AP defenses with a digital payment solution like Finexio. Contact Us or Book a Meeting to learn more.

‍*Please note that these procedures should be considered as general, non-comprehensive advice.