Ransomware is quickly becoming a problem for both businesses and personal computer users. It is also becoming more sophisticated; users may not even have to click or download something to become victim to this scam. Ransomware can spread between networked PCs and servers quite quickly, which leaves the owners of these machines at the mercy of hackers demanding money for access to the owner’s’ most valuable files.
As these threats to steal information and hold technology hostage become more real, so does the need for a way to stop such attacks. Predictive analytics may be the key to preventing ransomware from getting a hold on computers and servers. Here are several reasons why predictive analytics may be the most essential tool to use when trying to avoid ransomware.
Contents
Predictive analytics have a good track record
It may be a new tool in the fight against hacking, but predictive analytics have actually been used by the U.S. military to combat cyber threats and to make real world decisions. They have used predictive analytics to help them dive through massive amounts of data in order to make better and more informed decisions about the possible tactics they will use.
This data can include things like past military engagements, social and economic factors and a myriad of other information. Diving through this data by hand would take an incredible amount of time, but with predictive analytics, they have been able to drill down to the most essential predictive data. The military has used this information to prepare for eventualities they may not have seen coming otherwise, which in turn helps avoid costly mistakes.
Predictive analytics stops the problem before it starts
Traditional antivirus programs treat often the problem after it has already infected your computer. Many of these programs do have some preventive options, but they often rely on their users to avoid viruses and hacking programs.
As malware and ransomware evolve, avoidance is becoming trickier, since some ransomware is able to infect a computer without the user making grave errors. Though human intervention may still be required, predictive analytics can empower users and companies with the information they need to steer clear of the potential threats that ransomware can pose.
It can be used on large, complicated systems
Though ransomware can affect individual users, this kind of malware tends to target larger collectives of users, like companies or parts of the government. The larger the network, the harder it can be to protect that network against cyber threats. Predictive analytics can easily be used on large networks, because it can be modified to dig through large amounts of data. Once that data is analysed, it can be turned over to IT employees and from there, who can further analyse the essential data and ensure that their company or department is safe against ransomware and other threats.
The cost of this technology has also gone down over the last several years, like with converged systems and the hybrid cloud, so it has become a much more cost effective way to deal with problems like ransomware. This decrease in cost has also caused more cyber security companies to start adding predictive analytics to the list of solutions they offer their clients.
Ransomware is evolving constantly
10 years ago, few people knew what ransomware was. Now it is not only making real world headlines, but has also been the main plot point in many TV shows and movies, making it a household name. As people try to stop its effects, hackers using this technology will ensure that ransomware evolves to overcome such defences. Most current cyber defences are mato defeat current versions of ransomware, but they are not made to defeat evolved versions of it.
Predictive analytics is able to account for this evolution. It can be used to predict what sorts of evolutions may occur and then those predictions can be used to avoid the next-generation of ransomware or other malware. It is also very likely that as other preventative software evolves to stop things like ransomware, that predictive analytics will continue to be a part of these steps to ensure cyber safety.
Though ransomware may not be going away anytime soon, we may see its negative impact lessening as more government departments and private companies invest in solutions that include predictive analytics.
By using predictive analytics to explore exploitative eventualities, companies can solve more complex problems that threaten the security of their computers and the security of their networks.
[“Source-ndtv”]
