THE COST OF CYBERCRIME AND RANSOMWARE
If you think that cybercrime and its buddy ransomware are going to leave us any time soon, think again. Ransomware and cybercrime, in general, are increasing exponentially every year, a major worry for small-to-medium size businesses and corporates alike. McAfee recently reported that the total cost of global cybercrime reached an all-time high of $1 trillion, approximately £0.72 trillion, in 2020. That’s not chicken feed, even for giant organizations such as Amazon, Facebook, Walmart or Apple. And that sum represents an increase of almost 50% for the cost of hacking in 2018. Another scary statistic is that so far in 2021, the average total cost of a breach is about $4.24 million – around £3.07 million – up 10% from the previous year.
WHAT EXACTLY IS RANSOMWARE?
In the unlikely case that you’ve forgotten, ransomware is a form of malware that uses encryption to hold a victim’s information to ransom. Put simply, a piece of malicious code gets access to a computer or IT network and encrypts critical data so that files, databases and applications cannot be accessed. To regain access, you need to pay the ransom – for individuals, this may be a few hundred pounds but for businesses, the demand could be in the millions. This year, for example, an attack on Taiwan-based PC manufacturer Acer resulted in the highest ransom demand ever: $50 million. A spokesperson from Acer said:
“Companies like us are constantly under attack, and we have reported recent abnormal situations observed to the relevant law enforcement and data protection authorities in multiple countries.”
While it is uncertain whether Acer paid the ransom or not, in all likelihood it did. Most victims tend to put on a brave face in the event of a data breach and claim that they ‘will not negotiate with terrorists.’ Nevertheless, the fact remains that all companies and individuals need their data back. Without it, they cannot function.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Don’t be fooled into thinking that ransomware attacks only occur in isolation. They do, but only a fraction of the time. Ransomware is often designed to spread across a network and target database and file servers and can thus quickly paralyze an entire organization. Worse still is the true cost to business of the cyberattack. According to Sophos, British security software and hardware company, the cost of recovering from a ransomware attack is now 10 times the size of the ransom payment, on average.
GET PROTECTION NOW
It all sounds like bad news and even more bad news on the horizon for businesses and their IT, doesn’t it? Not necessarily. Zhero is a cybersecurity expert with more than 20 years of experience in professional business IT providing robust cybersecurity management for any size of business. Zhero’s cybersecurity solutions are scalable and flexible to meet the needs of your IT and to suit your pocket. Our always-on security monitoring means that your data is never at risk of being lost or breached. Don’t fret about the cost of ransomware and cybercrime. Contact Zhero today and get peace of mind.
