by Zoë Wright

If you’ve been paying attention to the news over the last two weeks, then I’m sure that the name Allen Grubman is a familiar one to you. If it isn’t, let me give you a quick synopsis of why it should be; Allen Grubman, one of the country’s most prominent entertainment lawyers, was hacked earlier this month by a ransomware gang called REvil, stealing (and leaking) thousands of sensitive documents about everyone from Donald Trump to Lady Gaga. The cybercriminals initially demanded a $21 million ransom, which has only increased to $42 million, as of May 18, 2020. Furthermore, the gang has reportedly already sold all of its documents regarding the current president, and plans to begin selling data on Madonna this week, with a starting price marked at $1 million.

Perhaps you’re reading this and thinking, ‘well, that sucks, but, he’s a big name, of course he’s going to be hacked, this isn’t going to happen to me’, and, if that’s you, you ought to keep reading. The truth of the matter is that, while only the big names typically end up making the news, cybercrime is only rising. According to Cybersecurity Ventures, cybercrime is projected to reach $6 trillion in damages by only 2021 – in case you’ve lost track of time during the Coronavirus, like so many of us have, that’s next year. As in, a little more than 6 months away. And this isn’t a cumulative cost, it’s annual. Can you even imagine, $6 trillion A YEAR in cybercrime damage? To put this into perspective: with $6 trillion dollars, every sports league – not team, league – in the country could be bought, as well as Apple, and you’d only have spent around a quarter of your fortune. Or, if you’re a bit more generous, with just one trillion, you could fund the college experiences of 8.33 million people, or you could pay off all the existing student debt, or both, and still have $4.5 trillion left.

While this $6 trillion in damages is obviously not being incurred by one victim, but many, you still get the picture - $6 trillion is a ton of money, and everyone would much rather use their contributing portion for something better than cleaning up the mess left by cybercriminals.

The truly scary and hard-to-come-to-terms-with part of the whole thing is that you or at least someone you know will almost definitely be the victim of a cybercrime. You’re not exempt simply because you’re a small business. Don’t let yourself fall prey to the trap that, since you’re not a big name, no one will know or want to hack your systems. 43% of cyber-attacks target small businesses, not the big names like Allen Grubman (and, in case you were wondering, 15% of breaches involve Healthcare organizations, 10% involve the Financial Industry, and 16% involve the Public Sector). Like it or not, that means you are at risk, and if you are targeted, you will be contributing to that $6 trillion.

The statistics surrounding cyber security help us understand the breadth of the situation, though, and guide us in making the decisions that keep our businesses and data as safe as possible, which is why we’re sharing the pieces we found most important. Our goal is not to scare you, but to give you the information, guidance, and support you need to protect yourself, your business, and even your loved ones. So, here they are:

  • 71% of data breaches are financially motivated, whereas 25% were motivated by espionage (this means that the majority of cases are done simply because hackers hope they can get money out of it)
  • 52% of breaches featured hacking, 28% involved malware, and 32-33$ included phishing or social engineering
  • There are 8 Most Common Causes of Data Breaches
    • Weak and/or Stolen Credentials (Passwords)
    • Back Doors, Application Vulnerabilities
    • Malware
    • Social Engineering
    • Too Many Permissions
    • Insider Threats
    • Improper Configuration and User Error
  • Hackers attack every 39 seconds, on average 2,244 times a day
  • In 2019, the average time to identify a breach was 7 months
  • 34% of data breaches involve internal actors
  • 92% of malware is delivered by email
  • The average cost of a malware attack on a company is $2.6 million

And these are only some of the statistics.

The world is a scary place sometimes, but it doesn’t have to be when you have the right support in place. Don’t put your business at risk by thinking you have nothing to lose, because, in actuality, you have everything to lose if you don’t have someone properly ensuring your data’s safety. We don’t want you to be the next Allen Grubman. If you need help securing your data, give us a call today.

 

Sources:

https://www.cyber-observer.com/cyber-news-29-statistics-for-2020-cyber-observer/
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-data-ransomware-grubman-law-firm-madonna-2020-5