Ransomware: The Threat Is Bigger than You Think

It was my honor to participate in a panel presentation on ransomware last year with Steve Lamb from ioFABRIC and Inspector Mark Mitchell from the Kawartha Lakes Police Service.

I still recall the wide eyes and jaws dropping (literally) from the audience.

Now six months later, ransomware incidents continue to grow and are a ubiquitous threat to all businesses. These criminals are equal opportunity—meaning they don’t discriminate between industries, location, or size. All companies are at risk!

The true costs of cyber crime

Inspector Mitchell talked about the magnitude of cyber crimes. We all knew that ransomware is a very real threat—and is expected to grow to trillions of dollars by 2019.

Yes, that’s trillions of dollars!

Inspector Mitchell quoted from a recent report, A Cyber Strategy for Ontario Law Enforcement: A Discussion Paper. 2017.2. In 2015, Canadians lost $2 Billion to online identity theft and fraud.

By 2019, the business cost of all cyber crimes worldwide is expected to climb from $375 Billion to $2 Trillion.

The challenge for law enforcement

70% of Canadian businesses have been a victim of cyber attacks.

Small and medium businesses are most vulnerable to ransomware attacks, so that includes the majority of businesses operating today.

Because most ransomware crimes are initiated overseas, law enforcement faces a substantial challenge because the criminals are out of their jurisdiction.

Cyber crimes originate in over 190 countries around the world. Russia, Nigeria, China, and North Korea are the most publicized. Profits are known to filter back to terrorist organizations as well as crime rings.

But don’t despair! There are actions you can take to protect your data from cyber criminals:

1. Perform a risk assessment
2. Educate your employees
3. Get immutable backups onsite AND an immutable copy offsite

Contact me to find out what we can do to protect your business, or read more about our services here.