Ransomware can cause untold damage, whether they target individuals, data, networks, or entire businesses. As such, ransomware protection is vital. However, ransomware protection software can refer to several different tools, such as antivirus, protected-file controls, and backup/recovery software.
Each tool serves a different purpose, whether it reduces the chance of infection, identifies suspicious activity, or recovers files after an attack. Knowing what kind of ransomware protection you have is essential to maintaining good cybersecurity; otherwise, you risk leaving yourself vulnerable.
With that in mind, let’s explore what ransomware protection features matter the most, what they do, and how you can distinguish between them when looking at antivirus software.
What is ransomware protection software?
Ransomware protection software is a broad category of security tools designed to help prevent, detect, block, limit the damage from, or recover from ransomware attacks.
However, that definition can cover a variety of tools, including antivirus software, dedicated anti-ransomware tools, backup and recovery platforms, and endpoint detection and response (EDR) systems. As such, it can be a vague term, and anyone looking for ransomware protection should understand exactly what type they’re getting when evaluating and comparing features.
How is ransomware protection different from standard antivirus?
Many modern antivirus solutions already include ransomware-related detection and protection, but how they monitor encryption behavior and support recovery varies by software. As such, it’s recommended to look for specific ransomware protection features when evaluating antivirus software.
Standard malware detection
Your standard antivirus solution will spot and block known and suspicious malware using a variety of detection methods, including signatures, heuristics, file reputation, and so on. This is the core functionality of any given antivirus.
Ransomware-specific behavioral detection
Some ransomware protection tools use behavior-based monitoring to detect activity associated with ransomware, such as rapid file encryption, large-scale file changes, or interference with security tools. This can help identify suspicious behavior that may not match a known malware signature.
File protection and application controls
Beyond detection and prevention, some tools can restrict which applications can modify sensitive folders or files. This adds an extra layer of ransomware prevention by making it harder for ransomware to access vital data and destroy it.
Backup and recovery capabilities
Even with all the ransomware prevention in the world, it’s still a good idea to maintain backups for data recovery. Maintaining backups, snapshots, and other rollback features helps users rebuild if files are changed, encrypted, or destroyed, making them essential for disaster recovery. Keep in mind that antivirus detection and data recovery are separate capabilities, so you’ll need to get a backup tool independently from your antivirus software.
The four layers of ransomware protection
Good ransomware protection includes a few core elements designed to protect devices and support recovery should the worst happen. The four core layers of ransomware protection include:
1. Prevention
The first step in ransomware protection is preventing it from striking in the first place. Prevention reduces the chance of malicious files, links, or exploits reaching the device, so they can’t infect it. This includes phishing protection, malicious site blocking, download scanning, and exploit protection.
2. Detection and blocking
If ransomware slips past prevention features, early detection and blocking can prevent it from causing damage. Ransomware detection identifies known malware, suspicious files, or activity that matches ransomware behavior before it spreads. This includes behavior monitoring, real-time protection, and file reputation.
3. Damage limitation
Limiting the damage ransomware can inflict is equally important. Many ransomware protection tools can restrict file access, stop suspicious processes, or quarantine threats before they affect more files. This includes application controls, rapid threat isolation, and protected folders, which can limit malware spread.
4. Recovery
If prevention, detection, and limitation fall short and ransomware still wreaks havoc, recovering data without paying the ransom is essential. Recovery tools help restore files or systems, so nothing of value is lost in the attack. This includes backups, snapshots, file rollbacks, and other tested restoration processes.
Which prevention features matter most?
Given the need for ransomware protection and the layers involved, it’s important to know what to look for in ransomware protection software. While solutions vary, any ransomware prevention solution should include a few core capabilities:
Phishing and malicious-site protection
Ransomware often starts with a deceptive link, fake website, malicious attachment, or fraudulent download. Detecting these tricks and traps early is key to preventing malware and ransomware, so good protection software should include web protection. This can help identify fake login pages, malicious websites, suspicious download links, fraudulent prompts, and more, to help keep devices safe.
Download and attachment scanning
When you download files, you don’t want ransomware to come along for the ride. Download and attachment scanning can check files for malicious programs when they’re downloaded, opened, copied, or executed, catching any ransomware they might be hiding. Keep in mind that scans should apply to downloads, email attachments, shared files, and external storage to make sure all your bases are covered.
File reputation analysis
File reputation services can assess if a file is known and trusted, uncommon, suspicious, or malicious. This provides an extra layer of security, although it works best when combined with other detection methods.
Exploit protection
Software vulnerabilities are popular targets for cyberattacks, so you’ll want to have protections in place. Exploit protection can detect attempts to target these vulnerabilities in operating systems and applications, although you’ll still want to keep your software patched and up to date to close the vulnerabilities as quickly as possible.
Automatic security updates
Cyber threats are constantly evolving, with new threats appearing all the time. As a result, security updates are vital to keep up with the latest threats. Good antivirus and ransomware protection should have automated security updates, including malware definitions, reputation data, detection rules, and machine learning models, so they stay current with the latest information and tools.
Which detection features matter most?
Next, let’s look at how ransomware protection can detect threats. Good cybersecurity uses a combination of detection features to provide the most holistic coverage possible, but each has uses and benefits worth understanding.
Real-time malware protection
Ransomware protection software should include real-time file monitoring, rather than relying on manual scans. Real-time malware protection can evaluate activity as files are downloaded, opened, copied, executed, and modified, so it can identify and address ransomware quickly, no matter where it strikes in the process.
Signature-based detection
Signature-based detection is a great tool for identifying known ransomware. This method recognizes known malware code to quickly and accurately identify malicious programs before they can inflict damage, making it a powerful security layer.
Machine-learning-assisted detection
With machine learning, ransomware protection software can evaluate a combination of file characteristics and risk signals to spot malicious activity. This is one of the latest developments in ransomware protection, and its ability to quickly identify new or unfamiliar ransomware makes it a great complement alongside signatures, reputation checks, and behavioral monitoring.
Behavior-based detection
Behavioral detection monitors what a process does after it starts running in order to spot suspicious activity that could indicate malware. For instance, if a program starts rapidly changing files, renaming or encrypting documents, or disabling security software, that’s a clear sign it’s malicious, and the detection will flag it.
While this can’t guarantee it will stop every attack, it’s a powerful tool for improving protection against unfamiliar threats.
What are protected folders and application controls?
As mentioned, application controls and protected folders can help keep ransomware attacks at bay. So we should understand how they work and how they can improve protection against ransomware attacks.
Protected folders
Protected folder controls can limit which applications can modify selected files or directories, such as important documents, financial records, and work files. This can reduce the ability of unauthorized applications to modify files stored in protected folders.
Application allowlisting
Application controls allow you to limit execution to trusted or approved programs, so unfamiliar programs can’t control other files. This helps limit what ransomware can do to a device by keeping its reach and access to a minimum.
Potential limitations
That said, these controls have limitations. They require careful configuration to ensure the programs you want to use remain allowed, and they can sometimes block legitimate applications. However, they’re still powerful tools for limiting the impact of a ransomware infection.
Even then, you’ll still want to maintain up-to-date backups for your device and files, so you can recover should the worst happen.
Backup, rollback, and recovery: What is the difference?
If you’re infected with ransomware, being able to rollback changes, restore backups, and recover lost data is essential. With that in mind, let’s break down the differences and explore how they can help with recovery after a ransomware attack.
Backup
A backup is a separate copy of files, typically stored on an external device or server, so you can restore them after data loss or encryption. If ransomware strikes, a current backup can provide a recovery path for files that were included in the backup. Make sure at least one backup is isolated from the main computer so ransomware can’t affect it.
File rollback
Rather than restoring older backups, file rollback attempts to reverse changes. This essentially rewinds a computer to the state it was in before ransomware struck, though availability and effectiveness vary by product.
System snapshots
System snapshots can assist with recovery by capturing the state of files or systems at a specific time. Snapshots capture the state of files or systems at a specific point in time and may allow you to restore data or system state to an earlier version, depending on the technology being used.
However, if the snapshot is stored on an accessible device or account, ransomware may still affect it.
Decryption tools
When ransomware encrypts your device or files, decryption tools may help. For some ransomware variants, a compatible decryption tool may be able to restore encrypted files without paying a ransom. However, these tools only work for certain ransomware variants, so you shouldn’t rely on them as your first and only line of defense.
Restore testing
While these features help you recover from attacks, they only work if they can successfully restore files. Testing backups and recovery tools to ensure they work as intended is important, or else you may be the victim of a ransomware attack only to discover that your backups can’t be restored.
How to evaluate ransomware behavior detection
Because behavior detection is critical for identifying ransomware, you’ll want to choose protection software with robust, accurate detection features. There are a few key traits you should look for when evaluating behavior detection, so be sure to check the following when looking at ransomware protection software:
Which types of file and process activity are monitored?
Does detection work in real time?
Do unfamiliar files receive additional analysis?
How quickly is suspicious activity blocked?
Are affected files identified?
How do alerts explain the detected behavior?
Can users review or reverse a false detection?
Does protection apply to both Windows and macOS computers?
How frequently are detection models and threat data updated?
How to assess performance and false positives
When you use ransomware protection software, you’ll want to make sure it’s working as intended without unexpected consequences. This means it should not only protect your computer, but do so in a nonintrusive, manageable way.
There are a few factors you’ll want to consider when assessing performance:
System impact
Any ransomware protection software will use processor, memory, and disk resources, but it shouldn’t significantly drain resources or impact performance. Be sure to evaluate the software’s impact during scans (full and quick), idle resource use, battery impact, and performance on older laptops to avoid significant system impact.
False positives
Ransomware protection software should watch for potential threats or suspicious activity, but overly aggressive detection may flag legitimate applications or activity as a threat. Too many false positives can create a “boy who cried wolf” situation, causing users to ignore legitimate alerts or disable protections to stop the noise.
Alert quality
Good alerts should do more than just say “something’s wrong.” Alerts should provide clear information, including what was detected, which files or processes are involved, what actions were taken, and whether the user needs to do anything.
Safe exclusion controls
Sometimes you may need to exclude a trusted file from scanning. However, broad exclusions can weaken protection. You’ll want to choose software that provides clear, limited controls so you can create exclusions without disabling security layers.
Why independent testing matters
While antivirus vendors may make bold claims about the speed and quality of their software, like “complete ransomware protection” or “100% protection.” Fortunately, independent testing can test those claims and provide evidence about malware protection, ransomware detection, false positives, system impact, and more.
Make sure you check independent tests and reviews for key information, including:
Whether ransomware-specific tests were performed.
Which operating systems it was tested on.
How recent the results are.
Whether real-time protection was enabled during the tests.
What the test measured, such as prevention, detection, or recovery.
How many files were affected before the threat was stopped.
False-positive results and rate.
Performance impact while idle and during scans.
Whether the tested version matches the current product.
How to compare ransomware protection software
With so many ransomware protection options on the market, it can be difficult to determine which one best fits your cybersecurity needs. When you’re evaluating software options, you can determine which one is best for you in a few simple steps:
Identify which operating systems need protection: First, you’ll want to determine which of your devices will need protection. If you use both Mac and PC devices, for instance, check compatibility on both and verify that the software includes ransomware protection features for each platform.
Determine which protection layers are included: As established, there are multiple layers to ransomware protection, so you’ll want to see which ones the software includes. These can include prevention, detection, damage limitation, and recovery features, so knowing exactly what you’re getting is essential.
Prioritize real-time protection: Real-time protection is a core capability to look for in antivirus and ransomware prevention software. Check whether the product actively monitors files, downloads, processes, and suspicious behavior.
Review phishing and exploit protection: Check whether the product helps identify or block malicious links, harmful downloads, and exploit attempts.
Examine behavioral detection claims: A good ransomware protection solution should make it clear how it monitors activities and handles suspicious processes. Don’t rely on vague, generic claims alone.
Confirm what recovery claims actually mean: Recovery could include backups, snapshots, file rollback, decryption assistance, or something else altogether; make sure it’s clear which you’re getting.
Review independent validation: Don’t just take the vendor’s word for the software’s quality. Look for recent, OS-specific evidence that supports their protection and performance claims.
Evaluate performance and false positives: You don’t want to get a tool that slows down your computer with false alarms. Be sure to research what its impact on performance is so the protection doesn’t create slowdowns or frequent unnecessary alerts.
Compare device limits and pricing: You’ll want to know what you’re paying for. Check the costs to review not only the first-year cost, but also the renewal price, device allowance, and any features limited to higher tiers.
Check support options: You’ll also want good customer support, in case you encounter any issues. See how the provider helps users investigate detections, restore access, or resolve false positives, should it be necessary for you.
How Splashtop Shield supports ransomware prevention and detection
Splashtop Shield is an AI-powered antivirus solution for Windows and Mac computers that helps protect against malware, phishing attempts, suspicious behavior, and exploit attempts that can be involved in ransomware attacks.
Splashtop Shield combines behavior-based detection, machine-learning-assisted file analysis, cloud reputation checks, and frequently updated threat data to help identify malicious files and suspicious activity.
Splashtop Shield includes:
Anti-malware protection to help detect and block malware, including ransomware.
Anti-phishing protection to help identify phishing attempts and malicious links.
Real-time traffic scanning to help identify malicious traffic and online threats.
Behavior-based threat detection to help identify suspicious behavior that may indicate malware.
Anti-exploit protection to help detect and block attempts to exploit software vulnerabilities.
USB and removable-media scanning to help detect malicious files on connected storage devices.
Splashtop Shield focuses on ransomware prevention and detection and does not provide ransomware rollback, backup, or recovery.
Ransomware protection software checklist
When you’re evaluating ransomware protection software, it can be hard to know what exactly you should look for. That’s why we’ve created a handy checklist of everything you’ll want to find in your ransomware protection to ensure you’re getting the optimal protection.
Be sure to look for:
Real-time malware monitoring.
Behavior-based detection.
Phishing and malicious-link protection.
Download and attachment scanning.
Exploit protection.
Automatic updates for threat data.
Protection that supports the operating systems you use.
Alerts that clearly explain detections and actions.
Straightforward false positive handling.
Minimal performance impact.
Recent and relevant independent validation.
Clearly defined backup and recovery capabilities.
Transparent pricing and device limits.
Support that’s available through the channels you prefer.
Strengthen ransomware protection with Splashtop Shield
Ransomware protection software can include different layers for prevention, detection, damage limitation, and recovery. When comparing products, make sure you understand which of those layers each tool actually provides.
Your overall ransomware protection strategy should include real-time malware protection, phishing protection, behavior-based detection, exploit protection, and reliable backups, whether those capabilities come from one product or several.
Splashtop Shield helps protect Windows and Mac computers against malware, phishing attempts, suspicious behavior, and exploit attempts, providing one prevention and detection layer against ransomware.
Want to learn more about Splashtop Shield? Check out how it can protect your devices today.
