Tag Archive for: insurance

IT leaders think immutable data storage is an insurance policy against ransomware

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IT leaders consider immutable storage as a must-have in the fight against cyberattacks, according to Scality.

immutable storage

Ransomware threats are now understood by organizations to be inevitable. Reports show 1 in 4 organizations that pay a ransom never get their data back, and just 16% are able to recover without paying a ransom.

This reinforces immutable data storage’s role as an essential last line of defense within a cybersecurity toolkit. With this type of storage, data cannot be deleted or modified once written, increasing data safety and ensuring organizations have the power to restore data with 100% accuracy in the event of a breach.

94% of IT leaders either already rely on such data storage or plan to implement it within the next 12 months, and an additional 2% plan to deploy it within the next three years.

69% consider this data storage essential to their corporate cybersecurity, and only 12% of those who deployed immutable data storage say it is not essential.

Vertical market and regional nuances

Comparisons among IT leaders surveyed across vertical industries and specific countries reveal many notable differences.

Vertical market

Manufacturing organizations (95%) are most likely to deploy immutable storage, and 84% consider it essential to their corporate cybersecurity. Financial services firms (74%) report the lowest reliance on this storage, and 60% say it’s essential to their corporate cybersecurity.

Regional

A majority of IT leaders across all regions currently use or plan to use immutable data storage: The US has the highest level of current or planned deployments, with 98% of respondents either having implemented it or planning to do so within the next year. This is followed by France at 96%, Germany at 94% and the UK at 85%.

While a relatively low number (12%) of IT leaders worldwide who currently use immutable data storage do not regard it as “essential” to their cybersecurity strategy, a larger percentage resides in the UK: 24% of UK respondents have deployed it but say it is not essential to their cybersecurity, compared to 11% in France, 9% in the US and 6% in Germany.

“Widespread deployment of immutable storage reinforces an increased awareness of…

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Generative AI, cyber insurance fill out city CISO toolbelts

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Local government cybersecurity officials said during an online event Tuesday that procurement, cybersecurity insurance and generative artificial intelligence are all tools they can use to combat ransomware.

Officials said they continue to be concerned with ransomware attacks, a longstanding threat to the public sector that rose 51% during the first eight months of 2023 compared to the same period a year earlier, according to the Center for Internet Security.

“Unfortunately, Atlanta several years ago had a ransomware attack. So that is very fresh in their minds,” Atlanta Chief Information Officer Alan Greenberg said during StateScoop and EdScoop’s Cybersecurity Modernization Summit. “They are very incentivized to make sure they put in all of the proper protections.”

Local agencies often have strict procurement rules to ensure government has the opportunity to spend tax dollars on the most effective and cost-efficient technologies. But those slow processes can become obstacles to rapid response.

“This is a lessons learned — make sure you understand your entity’s emergency procurement process,” said Brian Gardner, chief information security officer of Dallas, which last year suffered a ransomware attack that knocked offline the court system and Dallas Police Department website. “When you have a [cyber] event, you don’t want that to be a tripping point for yourself to slowing your ability to recover down.”

Gardner urged security officers to familiarize themselves with state and local emergency contracting protocols so they can be ready for cyberattacks.

Kim Lagrue, New Orleans’ security chief, said she’s an advocate for cybersecurity insurance, which can help offset costs from common cyber risks, including data breaches and ransomware.

“Cybersecurity insurance gave us a blanket move forward,” Lagrue said. “But many areas, small municipalities, smaller organizations, struggle to afford cyber security insurance, as the premiums have escalated so high.”

According to a 2022 survey by the nonprofit CompTIA , 92% of local governments have a governmentwide cybersecurity policy for employee behavior and operations. The…

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Ransomware attacks tied to significant increase in cyber insurance claims

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Cyberinsurance claims have significantly increased during the first six months of 2023, mostly due to ransomware attacks, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.

Almost 20% of cybersecurity incidents involving claims were attributed to ransomware attacks, most of which were linked to the Royal, BlackCat, and LockBit 3.0 ransomware strains, a Coalition report revealed. Average ransomware losses during the first half of 2023 exceeded $365,113, which is the highest on record, while average ransom demands reached $1.62 million, which is 74% higher than the previous year.

While business email compromise claims declined during the first half of the year, funds transfer fraud claims rose by 15% over the same period, yielding losses of below $300,000, which was lower than $410,000 during the same period in 2021.

“The growing sophistication of threat actors and their tactics is a contributing factor in the upward trend in FTF claims severity,” said researchers.

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