"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." Mike Tyson's punchy adage rings all too true for organizations reeling from a ransomware attack. In recent years, ransomware has proven capable of bringing even a thriving business to its knees in a matter of hours, and it will continue to test organizations of all stripes.
The Ransomware Reality
According to Verizon's 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report, one-third of all data breaches involve ransomware or another extortion technique. "Ransomware was a top threat across 92% of industries," the report states.
The stakes are particularly high because ransomware may also come on the back of a supply chain attack – as was the case with the Kaseya incident in 2021 that exploited a vulnerability in the company's IT management platform to vastly amplify the reach of ransomware across countless organizations worldwide.
The True Cost of Ransomware
When news of a ransomware attack breaks, headlines often focus on the dramatic ransom demands and the ethical and legal conundrums over payment. What they often fail to capture is the organizational and human trauma suffered by the victims.
When systems go dark, businesses don't simply pause – they hemorrhage money while watching new opportunities slip away and brand reputation suffer. IBM's Cost of a Data Breach Report 2024 puts the average cost of recovery from a ransomware attack at close to US$5 million.
Limited Escape Routes
Organizations hit by ransomware typically rely on three escape routes: restoring from backups, receiving a decryption tool from security researchers (such as those involved with the No More Ransom initiative), or paying the ransom in return for a decryptor.
However, attackers often target backup systems, corrupting or encrypting them before deploying ransomware on production environments. Payment guarantees nothing while often adding insult to injury. Colonial Pipeline learned this when the decryption tools provided to them in exchange for US$4.4 million were so shoddy that restoring systems from backups turned out to be the only viable option anyway.
A New Approach to Resilience
ESET Ransomware Remediation brings a new approach to this conundrum, effectively combining prevention and remediation into one. It creates targeted file backups that are out of reach for bad actors during a process that kicks in when the risk is straight ahead – once a possible ransomware attempt is detected.
Building Competitive Advantage
Ransomware is a full-blown disruptor capable of unraveling business operations with alarming speed. Organizations with tried-and-true prevention and recovery capabilities will not only survive in the face of ransomware attacks – their ability to sidestep such blows may become their ultimate competitive advantage.
In the ever-shifting digital landscape, change is the only constant, and resilience hinges on anticipating the unexpected. Plan for the unknown like your business depends on it – because it does.
Source: ESET WeLiveSecurity