Cyber attacks are increasing. Last year, 71 percent of German companies fell victim to ransomware. 59 percent paid ransoms. 53 percent fear more hacker attacks through generative AI technologies.
Barracuda Networks has released its Cybernomics 101 Report, which analyzes the financial impact and profit motives behind cyberattacks. The research found that for German companies, the average annual cost of responding to attacks is around 5,7 million euros ($6,2 million).
Ransomware attacks on over 70% of German companies
The report also raises alarm as hackers explore how they can use generative AI (GenAI) technology to increase the scope, sophistication and effectiveness of their cyberattacks. 53 percent of German security experts surveyed believe that AI will enable hackers to carry out more attacks. In addition, 71 percent of German companies experienced a ransomware attack last year and 59 percent paid the ransom.
For the report, the independent research company Ponemon Institute surveyed 1.917 IT security experts who are responsible for their company's IT security functions or activities. They represent companies with 100 to 5.000 employees from various industries in the US, UK, Germany, France and Australia.
Weak authentication was the main attack vector
By surveying participants who identify as ethical hackers, the report also provides insights into the most commonly used attack vectors and which of them can provide the greatest return for attackers. The top three vectors cited were cyberattacks on weak authentication (55 percent), phishing or spear phishing (48 percent) and exploitation of known vulnerabilities (45 percent).
Platform concept safer than collection of tools
The research also highlights the behaviors and proven security measures implemented by companies best prepared against cyberattacks. The report presents best practices to help every organization detect, contain, and recover from attacks more effectively. These include adopting a platform approach to security rather than relying on a collection of disparate individual security tools or solutions, implementing privileged access rights to ensure that sensitive data is only accessible to authorized individuals, and creating (and regularly reviewing) one Incident response plans.
Methodology
The Ponemon Institute surveyed a total of 2023 IT security professionals in the US (1.917), the UK (522), France (372), Germany (329) and Australia (425) in September 269. The final sample of respondents represents companies with a number of employees between 100 and 5.000. All respondents are involved in managing their organization's IT security functions or activities.
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Via Barracuda Networks Striving to make the world a safer place, Barracuda believes that every business should have access to cloud-enabled, enterprise-wide security solutions that are easy to purchase, implement and use. Barracuda protects email, networks, data and applications with innovative solutions that grow and adapt as the customer journey progresses. More than 150.000 companies worldwide trust Barracuda to help them focus on growing their business. For more information, visit www.barracuda.com.
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