Ransom Payments Now Average $569K: Is Your Cybersecurity Ready?

YOUNGSTOWN – The average cost of a ransom payment following a cyberattack is now $569,000, according to Veeam.

Could your business withstand that?

As part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, TSI – Tele-Solutions Inc., a small business in Youngstown that provides voice, data, and IT support, held a webinar Wednesday to answer questions from business owners about obtaining cybersecurity insurance.

Jason Wurst, vice president of TSI, said the goal was to help business owners understand what cyber insurance companies expect from businesses to qualify for good, comprehensive coverage.

To that end, Wurst invited an expert in the field, Jim Peterson from Tech Wise, to discuss the importance of cybersecurity insurance and protecting businesses.

Statista reports that the cost of cybercrime is $8 trillion, which Peterson said is nearly double the annual GDP of countries like Germany and Japan. The number of password-based cyberattacks increased tenfold, from 3 billion in 2022 to 30 billion in 2023, according to Microsoft.

Those increases, Peterson said, are due in part to AI and automation, which make it easier for bad actors to make numerous attempts per second.

Peterson said 65% of cybercriminals are involved in organized crime. Even more troubling is that 32% of cybersecurity threats come from insiders.

It can be difficult to know if your business is under attack, Peterson said, and 200 days is the average amount of time the cybercrime continues, which means they are spending more than six months on the system undetected. And if they are detected, how do you respond?

“At the end of the day, if we find out somebody is in there, how do we get them out,” Peterson said. “And how do we recover the environment so bad actors don’t have the information.”

Finally, he said businesses must prove to their cyber insurance providers what happened and how they responded to the incident. In cases where someone has to respond to a breach or where information is lost, crucial evidence can be destroyed.

Hardware and software attacks are common, but 68% of cyberattacks are now human-related, such as credential theft, phishing, and social engineering attacks. Although this is down from previous years, it’s still a significant percentage.

Peterson said cybersecurity companies are effective at protecting hardware and software, but the human element is much harder to safeguard. Cybercriminals are using techniques that are increasingly difficult for employees to detect.

Once inside a system, they may manipulate or steal information and damage backup systems, forcing the business to pay to retrieve its data.

“We’re really good at seeing all the attacks that we stop and we’re really good at seeing that ransomware request when it comes in, but at the end of the day we’re not great at seeing all everything in between and that’s where that cyber insurance conversation really comes in,” Peterson said.

IT advisors can help ensure that systems are protected and assist in securing the parts of the business that are harder to safeguard, such as personal laptops and storage devices. Additionally, IT advisors stay updated on the latest AI programs to ensure they are benefiting your business, protecting it, and not misusing your information.

If your business is not taking the right steps and implementing proper security measures, cybersecurity insurance may determine you are not covered for a loss. The better your investment in cybersecurity, the less likely you are to file a claim.

Insurance providers used to ask only three questions, but now they assess the protections your business has in place to determine the appropriate policy. That’s where having a tech company like TSI can be beneficial—to protect your business and provide insurers with the necessary information. Having the right levels of cyber technology in place for your company can improve your cyber insurance policy options and rates.

Cybersecurity ransomware coverage, business interruption coverage, and even the cost of data recovery can all be affected. Peterson also suggests obtaining multiple quotes and reviewing the reputations of the companies.

“By investing in good cybersecurity technology right out of the gate, we can get the right policy early and hopefully, more importantly, not have to use it, which is the best part,” Peterson said.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.