How solution providers can help win the battle.

Can ransomware be completely stopped? Walters said no, especially since most antivirus software today is signature-based. And “there will be times … when the criminals are ahead of the (antivirus) vendors,” he said.

Solution providers can help with end-user education, which Walters says is “definitely part of the solution.” Separately, Brian Sherman of business development and marketing firm GetChanneled advocates a comprehensive and proactive security program, he wrote in a blog post on the CompTIA website. Every solution provider should consider offering their clients these three elements: a comprehensive security assessment, disaster recovery and backup plan development, and end-user training.

“If you want to ensure your customers are truly protected from ransomware and similar attacks,” Sherman wrote this month, “make sure they have these three areas covered.”