How much money companies pay to rescue data from cyber attacks
The computer security of a company is a fundamental factor today. Regardless of the economic sector to which it is dedicated, the possibility of an attack is very high because criminals find weaknesses and the results can have a great effect on the company’s finances.
An example is what is happening with the EPS (Health Promotion Entity) Sanitas in Colombia, which since November 27 has been under threat after a ransomware attack on the servers of keralty, the group that owns the company.
according to the blog BleepingComputer cybercriminals, belonging to the group FIIN8they left a message asking that the managers contact them to recover the entire operating system.
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The ransomware they are using is called ‘White Rabbit’ And this is a very recurring case today, which has led companies in Latin America to pay up to 1.5 million dollars to pay for the recovery of the information and respond to the other problems that this gives rise to.
Additionally, in the case of Sanitas in Colombiathe affectation to users has generated that there is no system to carry out medical examinations, schedule appointments and in general use the digital platforms of the EPS normally.
The case of a woman in a high-risk pregnancy due to hypertension was recently reported, who had been hospitalized for three days while waiting to complete the exams because there is no platform to perform them.
The money to rescue the information
No company is totally safe from a cyberattack and being under the pressure of a situation like the one you are experiencing sanitas many choose to pay the ransom, something that specialized cybersecurity companies never recommend for many reasons such as doubts about actually receiving the ransom, the possibility of continuing under attack despite recovering data, encouraging criminals to continue doing so , among other.
According to a survey of Sophos, company specialized in computer security, 65% of Latin American companies confessed to having been victims of some type of attack. A large part of this is due to the low investment made to prevent the situation.
In addition, worldwide the average ransom payment in sectors such as manufacturing was $2,036,189, while in Latin America it was $1.5 million and in Colombia it can be around $900,000, including payment to cybercriminals, the additional work time of engineers, fines, system recovery and other aspects.
“Today’s cyber threats are becoming too complex for organizations to fend for themselves, and it is increasingly critical that organizations, including those in Colombia, invest in fully managed and expert-led cybersecurity-as-a-service offerings. such as managed detection and response to proactively and effectively protect themselves and their customer data,” said Oscar Chavez-Arrietavice president for Latin America of the specialized company.
In addition to improving information security systems, response policies and the culture of protection in companies, experts call for an increase in the workforce in the sector.
According to the ISC ‘Cybersecurity Workforce 2021’ study, there is a deficit of 2.72 million cybersecurity professionals in the world and a 65% growth in the supply of professionals in the field would be needed to effectively defend the critical assets of the organizations.
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