The global cybercrime economy is estimated to have the third highest GDP behind only The US and China. With 1 in 5 businesses have been victims of cyber attacks cybercrime is a huge industry that impacts on all of our lives.
The consequences of cyberattacks are far reaching and often only realised by victims after an attack has taken place.
What are the consequences?
The Financial Impact
If your business is held to ransom, having to withstand the urge to pay and instead endure the potential fallout of the attack can be daunting.
There are no guarantees that attackers will be true to their word and nothing to stop them from returning in future to carry out additional attacks, knowing you are likely to pay.
Beyond paying a ransom, there are additional costs from loss of revenue.
Being unable to carry out business operations means being unable to service customers and make continued profits.
Potential fines for breaching data protection laws and the cost of remedial efforts to reverse the damage of the attack quickly adds to the costs.
IBM report that in 2024 the average cost of a data breach worldwide has risen 10% since 2023, reaching $4.88M.
The Reputational Impact
Alongside financial losses, reputational damage can compound the issues facing victims of cyber attacks.
Researchers have found that up to one third of customers in retail, finance and healthcare will choose to stop doing business with companies that have been breached.
85% of customers will tell others about negative experiences as a result of a breach, and 33% would be vocal on social media about their frustrations.
Reputational damage can be long lasting and there’s no avoiding the issue as customers must be told if their data has been exposed to unauthorised individuals and they are at risk.
Avoiding this obligation would result in severe financial and legal penalties.
The Legal Impact
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018 require appropriate technical and organisational security.
Non-compliance can result in fines, enforcement notices, or an investigation from the data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office. Regulatory fines for non-compliance can be up to either 4% of annual global turnover or €20 million.
Businesses who work with larger organisations may also find they are in breach of contract and liable to indemnify their clients if a data loss has affected them in some way.
This may impact not only the existing contracts, but also prevent your organisation and key stakeholders in control of the business from working with these customers, accessing frameworks or trading within the wider industry for several years.
Cyber crime is a threat that impacts businesses of all sizes, regardless of how small.
75% of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) surveyed by CyberCatch and KnowBe4 said they would be unable to continue operating if hit with ransomware. Yet 51% of small businesses claim to have no security measures in place at all.
Cyber security is a threat that will continue to evolve as new tools are created to prevent it.
As a business leader you want to focus on your customers, products and services, not fighting criminals.
The solution is to build trusted partnerships with security experts that will keep you up to date with trends and ensure you’re able to invest wisely.
Pentesec are cyber security experts, with a full portfolio of industry leading products and services that can be tailored to businesses of all sizes and complexities.
We can leverage advanced security tools to create a comprehensive report on your vulnerabilities and provide clear options for how your budget could be invested to achieve the most benefit from the resources you have.
Contact us today to arrange a review planning meeting with one of our Master Consultants.
