Paper Title: Data-First Security: A New Approach to Ransomware Mitigation

Paper Abstract: Ransomware has evolved at a lightning pace. In the majority of attacks today, the hackers find your sensitive data and steal a copy before encrypting local systems, giving them significant leverage to demand payout. Data backups, while effective in protecting data for restoration, do not address this particular problem – and the results can be devastating. Data-First Security requires a change in mindset, starting with the premise that hackers will defeat layered defenses and steal your sensitive data. In this presentation we'll discuss this evolving approach to security, in which you protect the data itself and make it valueless to any unauthorized access. Using a combination of techniques such as encryption, data fragmentation/sharding, and multi-location storage you can give data a means to protect itself–even if your network has been breached.

Paper Author: Simon Ragona, VP Customer Success, Calamu

Author Bio: Simon Ragona is the VP of Customer Success at Calamu, a cutting-edge data security software company. With over 15 years experience examining and consulting on data forensics, incident response, and information security, Simon is a well known voice in the industry and a court-appointed expert in data privacy and protection. Prior to Calamu, Simon served in positions at Protiviti, T&M, and the Department of Homeland Security.