What is Ringfencing™? The importance of application containment

You may not already know this, but your applications are capable of communicating with each other in the background. This is important for seamless data synchronization and efficiency but also creates vulnerabilities that threat actors aim to weaponize.  

For instance, when a user within your organization falls for a phishing attack by opening a malicious file with macros or scripted instructions, the application you are using to view said file can become weaponized or communicate malicious instructions to other applications like your web browser, PowerShell, or Command Prompt in an attempt to spread ransomware.  

To protect your digital ecosystem a way to limit how your applications interact is a must. This is where ThreatLocker Ringfencing™ tool comes in.

Ringfencing™ in cybersecurity 101

Ringfencing™ is a powerful tool that gives you granular control over your applications and allows you to better protect your endpoints.  

With Ringfencing™, you can set policies across your organization that prevent specific applications on your devices from communicating or interacting with your files, data, other applications, or the internet. This provides a baseline level of protection for all of your endpoints.  

Ringfencing™ effectively protects your most important data while also keeping bad actors at bay. This helps to proactively protect against cyber threats and enhance your ability to respond to and mitigate attacks if they do occur.

If an application becomes compromised by ransomware, the policies set in place with Ringfencing™ will stop the application from spreading the ransomware’s scripted instructions.

Why is Ringfencing™ important?

Ringfencing™ has the ability to mitigate and prevent application attacks, vulnerability exploits, and other ransomware attacks caused by human error derived from social engineering and phishing. It steps in to prevent disasters from occurring within your organization that could be out of your control.  A strong example of Ringfencing™ capabilities was demonstrated in 2021 when Kaseya and its customers fell victim to the REvil vulnerability exploit. Kaseya’s customers who also implemented ThreatLocker Ringfencing™ tool in their security stack were protected from the ransomware attack.

Benefits of Ringfencing™

Here is a closer look at the benefits of Ringfencing™ as part of your cybersecurity framework.

Minimizing attack surface

Limiting how applications interact is one of the best ways to isolate vulnerabilities. This works by containing applications within restricted environments so vulnerabilities in one application cannot easily be exploited to compromise other applications or the wider system.

In turn, this also reduces the risk of lateral movement and mitigates potential damage. If an attacker gains access to one application, Ringfencing™ prevents them from moving laterally to other applications. This proactive approach can help mitigate the damage of an attack.

Enhanced data security

At the same time, Ringfencing™ ensures that applications only access the data they are authorized to use. This effectively prevents unauthorized data access and potential leaks. This goes hand in hand with reducing the attack surface.

Similarly, this granular level of control allows organizations to isolate certain applications containing sensitive data by preventing all other applications from engaging with them. For instance, they may choose to prevent applications from interacting with others containing financial data from less secure applications as a proactive measure.

Improved threat detection and response

Ringfencing™ helps organizations proactively prevent and respond to security incidents. The contained applications can be more easily monitored for unusual behavior, making it simpler to detect and respond to potential threats.  

In the event of a security incident, the effects can be contained within the affected application. This simplifies the incident response and recovery efforts to help mitigate any business interruptions.  

Compliance and regulatory adherence

Cybersecurity is not only a way for organizations to protect their sensitive information but is also essential for compliance and business longevity. Many regulations and standards require stringent controls over how applications interact with data and each other. Ringfencing™ helps organizations meet these compliance requirements.

By limiting and monitoring application interactions, organizations can also more easily maintain detailed logs to support their cybersecurity posture. This accountability is invaluable.

Operational stability and reliability

Ringfencing™ is essential for preventing application conflicts and, in turn, supports more stable operations. It is a simple concept; isolating applications prevents conflicts that can arise if one application becomes compromised. This ensures your business experiences fewer interruptions and supports the overall reliability of your network.

Dual approach to cybersecurity

Data Ringfencing™ is a fundamental component of a robust cybersecurity strategy. However, it is better when used alongside other advanced cybersecurity tools.

Ringfencing™ goes hand-in-hand with ThreatLocker Allowlisting, which acts as your first line of defense, and Ringfencing™ as your second. If ransomware is somehow able to penetrate your Allowlisting policies, Ringfencing™ steps in to mitigate the spread of malicious instructions within your endpoints, ultimately stopping zero-day exploits before it is too late.

Together, these tools create a robust defense mechanism that not only prevents unauthorized access and usage but also ensures that any potential damage is contained and controlled.

Ringfencing™ cybersecurity with ThreatLocker

ThreatLocker Ringfencing™ is a unique security too to ThreatLocker that strictly enforces a Zero Trust posture between applications. With the right policies put into place with Ringfencing™, it can run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, keeping your organization safe, and allowing you to sleep easy at night.

If Ringfencing™ sounds like something you need, then you may want to consider adding ThreatLocker to your security stack, book a demo to see how the ThreatLocker Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform could be the perfect fit for your business.