Over the last few years, the number of users encountering targeted ransomware – malware used to extort money from high-profile targets, such as corporations, government agencies, and municipal organisations – increased by 767%. With that in mind, here are 6 things you can do to defend against ransomware attacks: Assume you will be hit. Ransomware remains highly prevalent – no sector, country or organization size is immune from the risk. It’s better to be prepared, but not hit, rather than the other way round. Make backups and keep a copy offline. Backups are the main method organizations surveyed used to recover their data after an attack. Opt for the industry-standard approach of 3:2:1 (three sets of backups, using two different media, one of which is kept offline). Deploy layered protect...