Defending Your Organization Against Ransomware
Every day, coordinated cybercriminal groups are developing more advanced skills to hack organizations’ networks. The number of ransomware attacks has increased significantly, and it’s getting easier for sophisticated cybercriminal gangs to access companies’ data. As ransomware attacks become more refined and organizations are under rising threat, the stakes are high. In fact, ransomware attacks could cost businesses as much as $250 billion per year globally by 2031, compared with only $20 billion in 2021–a 13X increase in 10 years.
Despite this, many companies don’t seem concerned about the risk they’re exposed to. This trend of ‘cyber apathy’ means that only 15% of IT leaders are currently prepared to face a ransomware attack. Business leaders must understand that all organizations are a potential target for cyberattackers. The question is not whether a business will face an attack but when.
And the consequences of an attack can be immense. For example, a company may have to stop all activity for between 20 and 30 days on average, which leads to an enormous waste of time and money. From our experience, ransomware attacks may lead to a daily loss of £274,000 in revenues for an organization making £100 million in profits every year. The only way to resume activity and prevent a huge financial loss is to pay up. In the UK, over 80% of businesses pay ransomware demands, making it the country most likely to pay cyberattackers in the world.
But as long as businesses pay, the vicious cycle will continue; cybercriminal groups will keep making profits from conducting ransomware attacks. Companies must react and focus on developing defense strategies to stop bad actors in their tracks.
Understanding Cybercriminal Organizations
Ransomware has become very lucrative, offering full-time jobs to thousands of individuals around the world. People are hired to conduct reconnaissance and ensure attacks are perfectly coordinated to leave businesses no other choice than to spend millions to protect their own and their customers’ data, financials and reputations.
Everyone has a very specific role when it comes to performing attacks. Sophisticated cybercriminal groups can be made up of money specialists, data miners and coders. The more businesses fall victim to attacks, the more powerful these groups become. What makes things trickier is that not all groups are motivated by financial gain; some gangs are state-sponsored and not beholden to financial profit from their efforts, meaning simply refusing to pay a ransom is not enough.
Changing the Apathetic Mindset
Organisations must implement preventative measures to defend themselves against these increasingly prolific attacks. While many believe cybercriminal groups only target large-scale or well-known brands, this is a misconception. All businesses, regardless of their size, are vulnerable.
Research reveals that one in three employees do not understand the importance of cybersecurity at work. A quarter of employees also said they didn’t care enough about cybersecurity to mention if they had been involved in an incident, showing a clear lack of collective responsibility amongst the workforce. Cyber apathy is an issue that needs to be addressed across the business to reduce the risk of falling victim. It is the responsibility of all employees to understand how their roles and actions play a part in protecting the company and managing its overall security posture.
Cyberattacks may seem an unbeatable force, but it is still possible for companies to prevent them and limit the consequences. If companies take security seriously and implement a ‘military grade’ defense strategy to empower their teams, there is a high chance they will be able to avoid data breaches.
The Importance of Adopting Military-Grade Security
The fast-paced cybersecurity landscape requires companies to cut off threats at the source. The best way to do that is to look to the defense sector for security inspiration. Businesses don’t have to invest a huge amount of money or build a completely new security system; they simply need to strengthen their infrastructure and adopt efficient technologies to help anticipate and prevent attacks.
For example, with air-gapping technology, organizations can keep specified devices off main servers so they can act as backups or ‘safe zones.’ Immutable data is then held in isolated environments and can be used to help business recovery in the event malicious actors gain access.
But new technology must always be accompanied by a robust recovery plan. The 30/3/3 model is often recommended to ensure employees clearly understand what data needs to be recovered in 30 minutes, three days and three weeks should attackers succeed in entering a company’s network. Businesses that adopt this model no longer need to make tricky decisions about what data to salvage in times of crisis. Organizations can instead focus their efforts on mitigating potential chaos and saving data that is essential to keeping the business going.
Keeping Defense Strategies Updated
The cybersecurity landscape is constantly moving and evolving and businesses must regularly adapt their defence strategies to keep up. Maintaining apathetic attitudes only makes them more vulnerable and likely to fall victim to an attack, the consequences of which should not be overlooked.
