Why Ohio Businesses Are Being Targeted
Ohio's manufacturing sector — a critical component of the national defense and industrial supply chain — is one of the most targeted industries for ransomware attacks. Healthcare and legal are close behind. The FBI's IC3 report consistently ranks Ohio in the top 10 states for cybercrime victims by reported losses.
Attackers target Ohio SMBs because they sit at the intersection of high-value data (CUI, PHI, PII, financial records) and under-resourced security teams. The economics favor attackers: the average ransom demand is well under what an enterprise would pay, but well above what a small company can easily absorb.
Control #1: Application Allowlisting (Zero Trust)
This is the single most effective ransomware prevention control available — and the one most Ohio businesses don't have. Application allowlisting works on a default-deny principle: only pre-approved applications are allowed to run. Everything else — including ransomware — is blocked before it can execute.
Securafy deploys ThreatLocker as the foundation of our SECURE-CARE and COMPLY-CARE tiers. ThreatLocker's Ringfencing™ capability also prevents legitimate applications from being weaponized — a technique ransomware increasingly uses to evade traditional defenses.
Control #2: MFA Everywhere Feasible
Ransomware attacks almost always involve credential compromise first. Attackers obtain valid credentials through phishing, dark web purchases, or brute force — then use those credentials to move laterally and deploy ransomware. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) breaks that chain.
MFA must be enforced on: Microsoft 365, VPN, remote access (RDP), admin accounts, and cloud services. Authenticator app-based MFA is required; SMS-based MFA is increasingly insufficient for high-risk access.
Control #3: Immutable, Air-Gapped Backups
Ransomware operators now routinely target backup systems before encrypting primary data. An immutable, air-gapped backup — one that cannot be encrypted or deleted by ransomware — is your recovery guarantee.
Securafy deploys Datto BCDR for all managed clients. Datto's immutable cloud backup architecture means your backups survive even if attackers gain domain admin access. Recovery time objectives (RTOs) are tested, not assumed.
Control #4: Email Security with Sandboxing
Email is the #1 ransomware delivery vector. A significant majority of ransomware attacks begin with a phishing email that delivers a malicious attachment or link. Standard Microsoft 365 email filtering is not sufficient — you need advanced threat protection with attachment sandboxing, link detonation, and impersonation detection.
Control #5: Privileged Access Management
Ransomware spreads by escalating privileges and moving laterally. If your users run as local administrators — as many Ohio SMB environments still do — a single phishing click can give ransomware the access it needs to encrypt your entire network.
Removing local admin rights, implementing least-privilege access, and using privileged access workstations (PAWs) for administrative tasks dramatically limits blast radius.
FAQ: Ransomware Prevention for Ohio Businesses
Application allowlisting via Zero Trust tools like ThreatLocker is the single most effective control. By defaulting to deny-all for unknown applications, ransomware cannot execute even if delivered to an endpoint.
Cyber insurance may cover ransomware costs, but only if specific controls were in place and accurately disclosed at policy inception. Many Ohio businesses have claims denied because their security posture didn't match their insurance attestations. Implementing these 5 controls directly reduces that risk.
With Securafy's SECURE-CARE tier, all five controls can be deployed and validated within 30–60 days of onboarding. ThreatLocker deployment typically takes 2–4 weeks including allowlist tuning.