Ransomware is on the rise and becoming more sophisticated. It seems there are news reports daily on major data breaches for all types of businesses, large and small.
This real threat to governments, institutions, businesses and individuals around the world. Believe it or not, small to mid-sized businesses are at greater risk, according to The Beazley Group who identified that $930,00 is the highest ransom paid out for one of its clients in 2018.
The consequences for those victimized by ransomware are devastating. Cybercriminals use ransomware to drop an encrypted wall between a business and the internal data it needs to operate. An attack of this nature could paralyze operations and continues to be a profitable enterprise for cybercriminals.
Recently, Baltimore City government suffered from a ransomware attack called RobinHood that took down the city’s data system for over a month. While the ransom demand was under $100,000 in bitcoin, the estimate cost to recover from the attack is $18.2 million.
Traditional antivirus and threat detection software has come up short in preventing attacks and paying the ransom demands rarely ends up with the victim recovering their encrypted files.
How would your business function if someone encrypted all your files and demanded thousands of dollars to get your files back?
Many small to mid-sized business (SMB) take a reactive approach to ransomware, meaning they wait until they become a victim of having their data held hostage. Many consider paying the ransom. The problem with this tactic is that hackers can be unsavory and untrustworthy criminals. Fifteen percent of ransomware victims that choose to pay the ransom never recover their data.
How can you be certain that you will receive all files back virus free?
In addition, succumbing to cybercriminal’s demand for ransom makes your business an ‘easy mark’, as cyber thieves know you are willing to pay. Your returned files may have an even more sophisticated form of malware that will continue to monitor your business data and steal addition information.
More SMB are reporting cyber-attacks to the authorities in lieu of paying the ransom. Prior to this year, about 1-in-4 SMB reported ransomware attack. That number is now about 1-in-3 and those SMB that elect to pay the ransom is down about 6 percent.
According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), more than 992 CryptoWall-related complaints were received between April 2014 and June 2015, resulting in more than $18 million in losses. —Source
$301 Million in Ransom Paid to Hackers This Year
The total cost of ransom paid to ransomware hackers in 2017 is 301 million dollars. Ironically, the ransom isn’t what breaks the bank. It is the downtime and data loss that cut the deepest, often threatening a company’s survival.
No industry, operating system, cloud or device is safe from these attacks. That is why those of us at Omnimaven preach that Backup & Data Recovery (BDR) is an essential strategy to protect any business or organization from encountering business-threatening downtime.
Omnimaven Preaches these 3 Ps to Protect Your Business from Ransomware:
- Prepare: A business or organization cannot control ALL the variables of cyber-warfare. Prepare for an attack by having a robust back up strategy in place is key. Have backups stored in several different levels and locations so that your files are safe from metastasizing infections.
- Prevent: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Employee Cyber-security training is the second most effective way to battle ransomware. Teach your employees to recognize ‘social engineering techniques’, avoid click-bait and to never open an email attachment from someone they don’t know. This can be a very effective and simple solution.
- Protect:Backup & Disaster Recovery (BDR) is the most effective way to protect your business from ransomware. Ninety-six percent of Small to Mid-Sized businesses with a reliable BDR in place fully recover from ransomware.
All Industries Are At-Risk of Becoming a Victim of Ransomware:
- Construction
- Manufacturing
- Architecture/Design
- professional services
- Real Estate, Government
- Healthcare
- Retail/Consumer Products
- Educational
- Legal
- Non-Profit, Travel/Transportation
- Energies/Utilities
- Media Entertainment
12 Ransomware Facts:
- In past year 5% of global small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) fell victim to ransomeware
- 6 in 7 report SMBs victimized by ransomware from 2015-7
- 75% report business threatening downtime
- Today’s cyber criminals are more ruthless than ever
- 29% report ransomware virus remained on a SMB’s system after the first attack and struck again at a later time
- When it comes to awareness of the treat of ransomware, the majority of businesses are still in the dark
- 90% of IT pros are ‘highly concerned’ about ransomware, while only 38% of SMBs feel the same
- Ransomware continues to outsmart today’s top cybersecurity solutions
- 94% report ransomware bypassing anti-virus software
- 73% report ransomware bypassing email/spam filters
- So when all else fails (and it likely will), having a backup & disaster recovery solution is critical
- With BDR in place, 96% report businesses fully recover from ransomware
Want to learn more? Check out the full ransomware report today
Security & Backup
Businesses can’t afford to lose files and data, that is why Omnimaven offer full on/off site backups in order to secure your data. One can never predict when a virus, natural disaster, fire or water damage might affect your data. Rest assured your data will be secure on our remote servers.
If you’re trying to run a business AND manage your IT, it’s time to consider outsourcing the latter.
