Cyberattacks are coming at every organization from all directions, and the numbers are astounding. There were 2.5 billion malware attacks and 2.5 trillion intrusion attempts in the first half of 2021 alone. Among the most common cyberattacks, ransomware has been daily headline news for a good reason. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), from January to July 31, 2021, 2,084 ransomware complaints were received, reflecting more than $16.8M in losses, a 20 percent increase in reported losses compared to the same time frame in 2020.
The statistics are alarming. By mid-year 2021, the vast majority of breaches—85 percent—involved a human element. And 91 percent of breaches start with a phishing attack. These social engineering schemes put your employees squarely in the crosshairs of hackers. And that’s why you need to reinforce secure cyber defense practices with your employees. A successful attack can be incredibly costly in terms of downtime and damage to your business’s reputation, ignoring for a moment the costs that follow if you can’t get your data back at all.
The vast majority of CEOs already know cybercriminals are lurking in every digital space. From ransomware to social engineering schemes, cyber-attacks are impossible to ignore when they make the headlines almost every day. In a global PwC survey, 71 percent of U.S. CEOs say they are “extremely concerned” about cybersecurity threats. Forty-three percent of those same respondents said they plan to increase their cybersecurity and data privacy investment by double digits to prevent business impacts as much as possible.
A disaster recovery plan empowers your business with clear, actionable steps to implement when an unexpected crisis occurs. When it comes to protecting your data, the right plan takes a proactive approach that establishes smart safeguards well in advance of an incident.
Wildfires, earthquakes, hurricanes, and massive cyberattacks—when we think of natural or man-made disasters, we often imagine major catastrophes. As we are reminded too often, these things really do happen, which is one reason I hope your organization has a Disaster Recovery preparedness plan
Cybersecurity is front-page news, and its impacts are considerable. Consider that NBC News recently called ransomware “a major national security issue.” The same story says that the cybersecurity industry is stretched thin, with a shortage of workers to help stem the damage. The FBI 2020 Internet Crime Report shows how big the problem is, with the bureau’s Internet Crime Complaint Center receiving a record 791,790 complaints last year, with reported losses exceeding $4.1 billion. And today’s headlines make it clear that it’s only getting worse.
