The Email Security Trends Report 2023 shows that attacks in the DACH region are above average at 81 percent. The greatest impact of successful attacks was the loss of sensitive, confidential or business-critical data.
The follow-up costs of a cyber attack via e-mail can be extremely expensive for companies and on average well exceed one million dollars. This is shown by an international study commissioned by cloud security specialist Barracuda Networks and now published in its “Email Security Trends 2023” report. 75 percent of businesses worldwide have experienced at least one successful email attack in the last 12 months. Remarkable: In the DACH region, this value is above the average at 81 percent.
Worldwide: every third company as a victim
🔎 How has the total cost of email security breaches changed over the past 12 months? (Image: Barracuda).
In December 2022, a total of 1.350 companies with 100 to 2.500 employees in the USA, Australia, India and Europe were surveyed. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, 150 companies took part in the study. The greatest impact of successful attacks via e-mail in German-speaking countries was the loss of sensitive, confidential or business-critical data at 49 percent, followed by downtime and business interruptions and damage to the brand and company reputation at 45 percent each. There were notable differences between the sectors.
For example, financial services providers were particularly affected by the loss of valuable data and funds at the hands of attackers, while business disruption was the top priority in the manufacturing industry. For healthcare facilities, the most important factor was the cost of recovery to get systems back up and running quickly. Regardless of size and industry, however, companies in which more than half of the employees work remotely were confronted with higher risks and repair costs in a global comparison. Among the companies surveyed in German-speaking countries, the proportion of remote work is 40 percent.
High consequential costs from attacks
The average follow-up costs of the most expensive attack have significantly exceeded the 1 million dollar mark in India, Australia, the Nordics and the Benelux countries. And they were huge in the DACH region too at $979.752. Only 13 percent of company representatives surveyed in German-speaking countries believe that the cost of email attacks has risen dramatically in the past year, and 8 percent even believe that the cost of malicious attacks is falling - this is the highest percentage in the country comparison.
Companies are aware of their security gaps
🔎 Average cost of the most expensive email attack companies have experienced in the last 12 months (Image: Barracuda).
Although 22 percent of companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland have increased their spending on e-mail security overall in the last 12 months, many say they are not yet sufficiently prepared. They see the greatest risks in data loss (36 percent), phishing (33 percent) and smishing (31 percent). Only 26 percent have already invested in specialized protection against spear phishing, and only 37 percent have conducted computer-based security awareness training. By investing in these solutions, companies then feel more prepared for phishing and smishing.
“Email is a trusted and ubiquitous communication channel, making it an attractive target for cybercriminals. We anticipate that email-based attacks will become more sophisticated, and that perpetrators will use AI and advanced social engineering to get the data or access they want and bypass security measures,” said Don MacLennan, SVP, Engineering & Product Management, Email Protection, Barracuda. Email-based attacks could be the starting point for a wide range of cyber threats including ransomware, information theft, spyware, crypto mining, other malware and more. "Growing awareness and understanding of email risks and the robust protection one needs to stay safe will be key to protecting organizations and their employees in 2023 and beyond."
More at Barracuda.com
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.