The True Cost of Ransomware in 2024
Is your business cyber secure? As another year of data shows a further increase in the volume and sophistication of ransomware attacks, its time to get your IT systems in order.
Ransomware costs billions of pounds each year in data breaches, business disruption, and fines. We look at the current cost of ransomware in 2024 and how you can protect your business from potential attackers.
Global Cybercrime Costs and Projections
The financial impact of cybercrime has reached staggering proportions, with projections indicating an alarming upward trend. It is an unfortunate aspect of today’s online society that affects businesses of all sizes.
Annual Cost of Cybercrime
In 2024, cybercrime is expected to cost the world economy 7.46 trillion USD. This is a significant increase from previous years, highlighting the crisis facing businesses and organisations around the world.
Projected Cyber Crime Growth
The rise in cybercrime costs shows no signs of slowing down. Experts predict a 15 percent annual growth in global cybercrime damage costs over the next few years. By 2025, this could result in an annual cost of 8.25 trillion USD, up from 2.36 trillion USD in 2015. Why are costs predicted to rise? Because of a rise in hostile nation-state sponsored activities and the availability of vulnerable tech.
Most Affected Industries
While cybercrime affects all sectors, certain industries bear the brunt of it. The healthcare sector is one of the worst hit, followed closely by the financial, pharmaceutical, energy, and industrial sectors.
The public administration, IT, finance, manufacturing, and professional services sectors have also been identified as primary targets for cyberattacks. These industries handle large amounts of sensitive data, making them attractive to cybercriminals seeking financial gain or aiming to cause disruption.
Ransomware: A Growing Menace
Ransomware has become a significant threat in the cybersecurity landscape, with attacks growing at an alarming rate. This malicious software has the potential to cause severe disruptions to organisations of all sizes, leading to financial losses and business disruption. There are approximately 1.7 million ransomware attacks occurring every day, which translates to 19 attacks every second.
Average Ransom Demands
The financial impact of ransomware attacks has also increased at a crippling rate in recent years with the average ransom demand reaching $2 million.
Manufacturing and production industries continually face the highest average ransom payments. However, it’s important to note that paying the ransom doesn’t guarantee full data recovery. In fact, studies have shown that if you do pay the ransom, you’re more likely to be targeted again in the future.
Recovery Costs
The true cost of a ransomware attack extends far beyond the ransom itself. Recovery costs, which include business downtime, lost orders, and operational expenses, have increased dramatically. The average cost of ransomware recovery in 2024 reached $2.73 million, an increase of almost $1 million.
Downtime is a significant factor in these costs, with the average organisation experiencing 21 days of downtime following an attack.
How Can You Prevent Ransomware Attacks?
Preventing ransomware attacks should be at the forefront of your cybersecurity strategy. Work with your IT support partner to identify and secure any vulnerabilities that already exist within your infrastructure.
Next, ensure you have secure backups of all your important data. Being able to quickly recover any compromised data will reduce the time it takes your organisation to get back on its feet should it ever fall victim to a ransomware attack.
Finally, working with an IT support provider that proactively monitors your tech means we can take action to protect your business as much as possible. This includes spotting unauthorised access and unusual activity.
Working with Softext
As Microsoft Cloud Solutions provider and Acronis Gold Partner, we’ll help secure your business against cyber threats and ransomware. Our managed IT support plans include everything you need to stay safe, and our backup and disaster recovery plans give you a failsafe should the worst happen.
Get in touch today for a safer, more secure business.
