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 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 very specific role when it comes to performing attacks. Sophisticated cybercriminal groups can be made up of…