Ransomware is the scariest and the most expensive online threat in the world today.
In 2019, India was badly affected by ransomware attacks that targeted both – the public and the private sector. It is difficult to list down all such cyber-attacks as mostly the victims are ready to pay the amount without disclosing it to the authorities.
A new report clearly provides the exact picture of this problem. According to DSCI-PwC Report, the average cost involved in data breach in India has risen to INR 119 million – a 7.9% increase from 2017.
The report says that even these estimations underrate the real cost of ransomware attacks which have damaged the basic infrastructure and shuttered the businesses. These days cyberattacks are not just for monetary gains but also for reputational damage and power play.
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Let us go through the main causes of ransomware attacks.
What is causing ransomware attacks?
Ransomware is simple to create and use. It doesn’t need much in terms of skills. It is so effective across entire networks that the hackers make high demands, and, in most cases, companies are ready to pay for them.
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The attackers’ tight hold on the target usually means that they know their attacks will be successful.
India is among the most targeted countries in ransomware. According to data by a global cybersecurity leader – Sophos, a massive 67% of Indian businesses confirmed to being hit by ransomware attacks in 2017 – 38% companies said they were hit twice. Over 80% respondents in India said the malware threats are getting more complex, year over year.
The reason cybercriminals have been consistently successful is because most of the Indian organizations are not prepared adequately: more than 50% devices are infected per organization in India.
Security experts and government authorities say the condition will get worse before it gets any better.
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How to prevent your organization from ransomware in 2020?
India’s cybersecurity market is booming. It is expected to reach an annual growth of 15.6% from USD 1.97 billion in 2019 to USD 3.05 billion by 2022, which is 1.5 times more than the global security market, as per DSCI-PwC Report.
Security experts said the demand for cybersecurity solutions is high as companies now understand the importance and are ready to invest in cybersecurity. With digitization, each department in the business environment needs to be secure, and so all are cybersecurity decision makers. The government too is stepping up to protest and respond to breaches.
Read details in a report by Forrester.
Within businesses, security is taking on a new shape. Individuals or companies are investing in different security categories (products/services) to protect their data. Across the various approaches the businesses are adopting, it is clear that nobody wants to be breached.
Let us see what products/services are emerging in the cybersecurity market.
The same report by DSCI-PwC investigated the key cyber security products and services emerging in India to address threats that are growing in scope.
Security products
- Data security products are growing at the fastest rate (22.2%) driven by emphasis on privacy and confidentiality.
- Endpoint security products such as anti-virus and anti-spam software, exploit protection, continuous monitoring, etc. are growing fast, driven by concern among business executives to protect high-profile endpoints. There is a high demand for real-time endpoint attack detection software, due to which there is going to be great increase in endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions.
- The IDR products will continue to be the most dominant product in the cyber security market at 32% of the product mix.
Other categories that have emerged in spaces are network security and identity and access management.
Security services
- Security testing services involving penetration testing, web testing, application security, audits and reviews is expected to grow at the fastest rate (17.4%) as businesses are willing to prevent their systems from cyberattacks.
- Incident response services are also growing (16.3%) due to high number and complexity in security breaches.
- Security operations services is the most dominant by occupying 38% of India’s cyber security services market.
Other than these, security consulting and security implementation are among security services categories that are emerging in the cyber security market.
Don’t wait – Prepare, Prevent and Protect
There are wide range of services and products being launched in the security market. In the software-driven world, ransomware and cybercrime will only intensify. Some companies are overvalued and not all security solutions provide the best results.
You can defend your organization against the impact of ransomware attacks just by putting the right security solution in place. Start by developing a robust backup plan and take regular backups. Strong backups play a key role in the anti-ransomware plan. A good strategy could be a distributed backup system that can allocate backup data in different locations.
Furthermore, keep your staff trained about ransomware and cybersecurity threats. Understanding how ransomware spreads can tell a lot about user behaviour that needs to be changed. With good approaches, we can mitigate the impact of ransomware attacks in Indian companies.
What practices do you follow to protect your organization from ransomware attacks? Let us know in the comment section.
Read details in a report by Forrester.
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