How ransomware gets in, and how to close the doors
Ransomware rarely breaks in. It walks through a door someone left open: an endpoint, the network edge or an identity.
Sample solution, not a client deployment
Situation
Most businesses have thought hard about one of the three doors and barely looked at the other two. Antivirus is installed; the VPN was set up years ago; former staff accounts linger.
Risk
Attackers look for whichever door is open: a phished laptop, an unpatched VPN appliance facing the internet, or an account nobody reviewed. Encryption can start days after the first foothold.
Approach
- Endpoint: EPP plus EDR that watches behaviour, not just file signatures.
- Network edge: patch management and monitoring for VPNs, firewalls and remote-access gateways.
- Identity: MFA, clearly defined access levels and a scheduled review of who has the keys.
- Detection and response: someone watching for an intruder mid-action, in-house, co-managed or 24/7 MDR.
Outcome we would aim for
All three doors covered and working together, so a single mistake is caught and contained before it spreads across the network.
A quick, honest gut-check
If you answer "not sure" to two or more of these, it is a reason to find out for certain, on your terms.
- Do you know exactly which of your systems are reachable from the internet right now?
- Could a former employee or an ended vendor still log into anything today?
- If a staff laptop was stolen tomorrow, would it open straight into email, accounting or customer records?
- Has anyone verified your VPN or firewall is patched in the last few months?
- If ransomware locked your systems tonight, how many days could the business run?
How we would roll it out
Gut-check
Which systems face the internet? Which old accounts still work?
Close the endpoint door
EDR on every managed device.
Close the edge door
Patch and monitor VPNs, firewalls and gateways.
Close the identity door
MFA, least privilege and scheduled access reviews.
Watch and respond
Detection and response sized to your risk.
Get the Cyber Health Check
Thirty-nine plain-language checks for any small or mid-sized Philippine organisation. Answer Yes, Partly, No or Not sure, and see where your gaps are.
For any Philippine SME or mid-sized business. Enter your details and the download opens on the next page.
Frequently asked questions
We are too small to be a target. Is that true?
Attackers choose by which doors are open, not by company size. Smaller businesses are often easier targets, not harder.
We already have antivirus. Is that enough?
It covers part of one door. Ransomware usually succeeds through the network edge or an identity, or by acting like a real user where signature-only antivirus cannot see it.
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