Impact of Ransomware on Business Operations

During a recent webinar, our Chief Strategy Officer, Dan Hoban and Head of our Security Analytics Team, Justin Heard talked about the reality of Ransomware. Part of the webinar our experts discussed the different impacts that ransomware can have on businesses.

Dan Hoban: “I think the biggest thing is it’s not just that it’s stealing data and offering a ransom, it’s also having an impact on your business operations. So, we hear from manufacturers that have to shut down their lines, and obviously there’s big fines that come and financial impacts beyond the ransom that that impacts. We’ve talked to construction workers who have construction sites that have to delay their program because they’re not necessarily going to get their job done in time because they were down for a couple of days. I think on the screen here you’re going to see that this floor a city in Florida agreed to pay hackers six hundred thousand dollars.”

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Justin Heard: “That’s a good point Dan, and you know, another thing that we kind of forget about sometimes is that yes, there’s always financial impact with ransomware and recovering from ransomware, so maybe you have to pay the ransom, but then you have to pay to restore your data and get back at operations. And how much money did you lose while you were down while that ransomware was propagating through your network?

“If we think in terms of business reputation, you know that it hurts your reputation as a business when you get attacked by ransomware if it becomes public knowledge. I may not want to bank with said bank if they are continuously getting infected with ransom or losing data, which goes into data breaches and things like that. I mean there’s a huge impact. The attack in Spain hit somewhere like 24,000 employees across 18 countries. That’s a lot of people! And then you see some of these headlines the numbers; 652 million, not even taking into account the recovery that has to happen after the attack.

Dan Hoban: I think to your point Justin, another good example is there was a radio station that got hit by ransomware. So, beyond the ransom that they had to pay they also had to worry about their sponsors because they may not have been able to get their commercials on the air and then the brand reputation that you brought up as well. It’s just common thought that when you turn to a radio station there’s going to be a channel there and so if that goes blank and you better worry about that brand. So, to your point Justin, it’s the financial piece, it’s what do we do with our sponsors and other pieces obligations that we’ve made and what happens to our brand equity as well. And I think the radio station is a great example.

Simply put, Ransomware has more than just a financial impact, it can destroy your overall brand. No matter what industry you are in, you’re a target to ransomware. Give us a call today for a free consultation and start protecting your organization from these harmful threats.