ESET: ransomware attacks target small and medium-sized businesses. IT security has a lot of catching up to do, especially in the SME sector.
German medium-sized companies are the engine of innovation in the economy. According to the Federal Association of Medium-Sized Enterprises, 99,5 percent of companies in Germany are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Often these fail to recognize their importance and neglect the topic of IT security. For this reason, many cyber criminals have adapted their arsenals to precisely these companies. Their attack methods range from Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks, which lead to hours of downtime and high revenue losses, to malware attacks, especially with ransomware. In the worst case, successful attacks with blackmail trojans can end in business closure. ESET experts show on welivesecurity that this does not have to happen.
In SMEs in particular, there is often a lack of staff and the necessary resources to deal fully with the topic of IT security. In addition, many managing directors still lack awareness of the dangers of cybercrime and industrial espionage. They also often fail to see the preciousness of the data their company owns. However, a successful cyber attack can mean high financial damage to your business.
High financial damage in a cyber attack
According to a report from the company Datto, ransomware attacks against SMEs are very popular among criminals. The attackers demand an average of around 5.000 euros from the companies concerned. However, this value is not the ultimate damage. There are also costs for downtime, for example. On average, experts estimate the damage to be around 120.000 euros per case in 2019. By paying a ransom, companies also signal that they are susceptible to the form of extortion. So there is no guarantee that the criminals won't try it a second time. There are additional costs to investigate a successful attack. How can companies protect themselves from such horror scenarios? One thing is clear: prevention is better and cheaper than aftercare.
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About ESET ESET is a European company with headquarters in Bratislava (Slovakia). ESET has been developing award-winning security software since 1987 that has already helped over 100 million users enjoy secure technology. The broad portfolio of security products covers all common platforms and offers companies and consumers worldwide the perfect balance between performance and proactive protection. The company has a global sales network in over 180 countries and branches in Jena, San Diego, Singapore and Buenos Aires. For more information, visit www.eset.de or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.