While ransomware has been around for decades, its prevalence has exploded over the last two years. Ransomware is expected to cause $20 billion in damages by the end of 2021. Arguably, the most impactful trend in modern ransomware is the advent of double-extortion attacks, in which attackers steal data and threaten to publish it in addition to encrypting it. Roughly 50% of ransomware attacks now include attempts to exfiltrate data.

There is one underlying strategy that maximizes an organization’s chances at mitigating the damage a ransomware attack might cause: zero trust. Zero trust is an approach to security that’s based on the notion that a breach has already occurred. Architectures, access control policies, and monitoring and authentication tactics are put in place to mitigate the amount and severity of the damage an attacker can cause.

Here are ten ways in which zero trust can help your organization defend against ransomware.