Beware: Cyber Attack Costs And Risks Rise
Introduction
Private and public sector organisations are being urged to tighten their cyber security as the risk and cost of criminal and state-sponsored threats grows.
In July the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) “urged UK organisations to prepare for an extended period of heightened threat in relation to the Russia-Ukraine conflict…”and to “…prepare for longer term resilience.”
This came after the UK and allied governments determined that Russia had been behind a series of cyber-attacks following its invasion of Ukraine.
The impact of just one attack on a Ukrainian communications company was felt across central Europe, taking down wind farms and internet connections.
Counting the cost
In the same month IBM Security published the findings of its annual Cost of Data Breach report.
It makes for sober reading.
The UK recorded the fourth highest average cost of breach, behind only the US, Middle East and Canada. That cost? An eye-watering $5.05 million – around £4.3 million.
The researchers also found that the average cost of a data breach globally had reached an all-time high of $4.35 million (£3.7 million).
In addition the report detailed that ransomware attacks are on the rise, accounting for 11% of security breaches, up from 7.8% in 2021.
Their cost, excluding any ransom payments, averaged $4.54 million (£3.9 million).
This research chimes with reports by cyber security specialist Bullwall that, in the second half of 2020, there were nearly ransomware attacks every second.
Preparing defences
Given that both the threat and cost of cyber attacks are increasing, it’s imperative that organisations pro-actively maintain their IT security protocols, systems and software.
The NCSC offers detailed guidance on how to design, build manage and maintain systems securely. This includes considering adoption of cloud services, with Platform as a Service (Paas) and Software as a Service (SaaS) enabling organisations to benefit from the security resources and expertise offered by providers.
Other recommendations include deploying Mobile Device Management technologies coupled with Infrastructure as Code in order to make it easier to monitor, update and redeploy systems.
Multi-layered security is also advised. The reasoning here is simple to understand, the more layers an attacker needs penetrate, the harder it is for them to compromise a system.
Deploying a Last Line of Defence
Such thinking is one reason why our engineers favour Bullwall RansomCare in the fight against ransomware.
This super-smart solution sits behind other cyber-security solutions, from firewalls through to sophisticated Extended Detection and Response (XDR) technologies.
It’s particularly useful as a complement to XDR and other security solutions because rather than focusing on endpoints, it tackles and halts the file sharing on which cyber criminals rely to hijack systems.
A Last Line of Defence solution, RansomCare works by delivering real-time monitoring of file sharing activity. Once it detects encryption taking place, it rapidly isolates the affected user and device to prevent the spread of encryption to any other users or storage areas.
Additionally it simultaneously isolates the hostile client seeking to encrypt data.
Because it identifies both the targeted user and the files encrypted, RansomCare also enables swift restoration from back-up to further support business continuity.
Another benefit is that it’s an agentless solution. Because it’s not installed on any endpoints or file servers it can be swiftly deployed with AI enabling automatic configuration. There’s also no network performance penalty to be paid.
RansomCare is designed specifically to contribute to those much-advocated multi-layered cyber defences, supporting integration with existing security solutions.
Need expert cyber security advice?
It’s clear that in defending themselves against the growing risk of cyber-attack, organisations need embrace a multi-faceted approach which takes into account network infrastructure and protocols.
In support of this Avoira offer bespoke cyber security advice which embraces software technologies, network design, cloud and managed services.
Arrange your free cyber-security consultation
If you would like to arrange a free, no-obligation independent consultation, please email us at info@avoira.com or call: 0333 001 5151.
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