Do you know the cost of a cyber attack for your business? As reported by Coveware, the average ransom payment as of Q1 of 2021 is $220,298 with a median ransom payment of $78,398. This isn’t including the cost of downtime (the inability to accept payments, reply to emails, or access systems). The cost of downtime differs for all organizations but typically ranges between $926/minute to $17,244/minute according to a study by PhoenixNAP. Yikes! That is a lot of money. Let’s dive deeper into the real cost of a cyber attack.
What is the Cost of Downtime Due to a Cyber Attack?
As mentioned above, The cost of downtime differs for all organizations but typically ranges between $926/minute to $17,244/minute according to a study by PhoenixNAP. The cost of downtime can add up quickly, especially if you are down from days to weeks. Downtime is costly, and ultimately could be what costs your business. Having a disaster recovery plan in place will help with the cost of downtime if hit with a cyber attack. What is your current disaster recovery plan? What is the Cost of Your Reputation? What about the reputation of your business? Admission to a cyber attack can often result in angry customers. If you’re breached, there’s a good chance their information was breached as well.
How would your customers feel if their information ends up on the dark web because of a breach within your company? This causes issues and mistrust with current customers. Will they continue to work with you after a catastrophic cyber attack? What about future business? A cyber attack can affect generating business in the future as well, it is critical you take every precaution to ensure your customer data is secure. Sounding expensive? I would say so. Do you have about $300,000 laying around? If not, I recommend making sure you have a cybersecurity defense strategy in place. IronTech Security recommends a layered approach or defense in depth. Defense in depth is the combination (or layers) of various tools that fill the gaps within security systems. The intent is to provide redundancy in the event that a security control fails. Defense in depth reduces the time to detect attacks and provides more comprehensive protection for your organization’s assets.
What can I do to prevent a cyber attack?
To start, make sure you are not relying on antivirus. Antivirus leaves you vulnerable to an abundance of threats like ransomware and polymorphic malware. What is your solution? EDR (endpoint detection & response). EDR uses artificial intelligence to catch anything suspicious on your device, unlike antivirus that only stops threats it has been told to look out for. Since EDR is behavior-based, it will detect the unknown threats that would bypass generic antivirus. Continuous cybersecurity training is critical in protecting any business. Employees are one of your biggest threats, surprising right? If an employee unknowingly clicks on a malicious attachment or link, you could be hit with a ransomware attack. Do your employees know how to spot a phishing email? Employees must be up to date and aware of the threats coming through their inbox every single day. They are your first line of defense.
In Conclusion, the cost of a cyber attack can be detrimental
Make sure you have defensive strategies and security layers in place to prevent the event of a cyber attack. The cost of a cyber attack can be catastrophic and bring your organization to ruins. Remember to be proactive, not reactive. Give us a call or shoot us an email if you are interested in assessing your organization for security risks.
Interested in learning more about cybersecurity? Check out our YouTube page for cybersecurity training videos and webinars, or inquire about our cybersecurity training for employees.