Defending Your Data is More Critical Than Ever
What do gasoline supplier Colonial Pipeline, meatpacker JBS, and a school district in Texas all have in common? They were the victims of ransomware attacks this year.
The Colonial Pipeline attack is perhaps the most well-known. Colonial is one of the largest fuel pipelines in the United States, and the attack forced a shutdown of its fuel distribution operations across several states, causing gasoline shortages and price spikes.
JBS is one on the world’s largest beef and pork producers, and when hackers hit the company’s IT system, its processing plants in North America and Australia were forced to shut down, sparking fears of food distribution disruptions.
And when a cyberattack shut down the phone systems, email, and Wi-Fi at a school district near San Antonio, TX, hackers said they would expose the personal information of thousands of teachers and students unless they received more than $500,000.
School officials made the painful decision to pay the ransom, and in the case of Colonial and JBS, the companies were forced to pay cybercriminals $4.4 million and $11 million respectively to regain control of their networks and critical data.
Your Company Could be Next.
Ransomware attacks have become a lucrative criminal enterprise in recent years as many organizations believe the most cost-effective way to get their data back is to pay the ransom —usually in Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency that’s difficult to trace. And while the FBI urges victims not to pay because it encourages perpetrators to target more victims, many in law enforcement acknowledge that companies without secure digital backups may have no other option.
Top targets for ransomware gangs include the healthcare industry, banking and financial services, manufacturing, local governments, and schools.
Victims of ransomware attacks paid some $370 million in ransoms in 2020, according to Chainalysis, a firm that tracks cryptocurrency. But that’s only a partial view of total amount of money paid out paid, and companies that chose not to pay can wind up spending millions of dollars to rebuild their computer infrastructure.
In fact, when ransomware hackers hit Atlanta in 2018, they demanded the bitcoin equivalent of about $51,000 to unlock the city’s computer systems. The ransom demand for Baltimore in 2019 was about $76,000. Neither city paid.
When all was said and done, it cost Atlanta about $17 million to fully recover from the attack, while it cost Baltimore about $18 million.
Are You Prepared for a Ransomware Attack?
What would you do If hackers infiltrated your network and held your data hostage? Is your organization prepared to pay thousands or even millions of dollars in ransom to regain control of your IT systems?
Don’t Be the Next Victim.
Cybersecurity issues can be costly – both monetarily and from a reputation standpoint. Protect your network and your critical data before hackers strike by contacting Cloudseac today.
The security experts at Cloudseac will design a custom-tailored cybersecurity solution to prevent attackers from accessing your network. Our trusted team will conduct a free cybersecurity risk assessment of your organization’s IT infrastructure to expose any vulnerabilities.
Then we’ll create a set of cybersecurity policies and practices spanning your entire organization while implementing state-of-the-art cybersecurity applications and data backup solutions designed to neutralize potential threats.
Cloudseac’s comprehensive list of cybersecurity services and solutions include:
- Cyberattack Risk Assessments
- Ransomware Prevention and Remediation
- Email Security and Phishing Attack Prevention
- Malware and Virus Prevention & Remediation
- DDoS attack Detection and Threat Mitigation
- Microsoft Azure Security
- Microsoft Office 365 Security
- Cybersecurity Policies and Best Practices
The cost of ransomware attacks worldwide will top $20 billion by the end of 2021, according to Cybersecurity Ventures, with attacks on businesses occurring every 11 seconds. Don’t wait until you number is up — contact Cloudseac today to schedule your free security assessment and take the steps to ensure your network and your critical data are safe and secure.