Preventing Ransomware Attacks at Scale

Designing software that’s resilient against the most common cyberattacks is possible — and significantly more cost effective than dealing with the fallout of a hack.

April 23, 2024

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Ransomware attacks — like the one on Change Healthcare — continue to cause major turmoil. But they are not inevitable. Software manufacturers can build products that are resilient against the most common classes of cyberattacks leveraged by ransomware gangs. This article describes what can be done and calls on customers to demand that software companies take action.

Once again, Americans are bearing the burden of software defects. Millions of Americans recently faced delays with their prescription drugs or were forced to pay full price due to a ransomware attack. While the United States has started to make progress in responding to cyberattacks — including by signing incident reporting requirements into law — it’s clear that there is still significant work to be done to curb the ransomware epidemic. Software manufacturers must take action to prevent compromises in the first place, and businesses that use their products should push them to do so.

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Jack Cable is a senior technical advisor at the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), where he leads the agency’s work on Secure by Design and open source software security.

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Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Digital Intelligence . Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.

Excel in a world that’s being continually transformed by technology.

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