What Are the Effects of a Ransomware Attack on a Business?

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Ransomware Attack

The effects of a ransomware attack on businesses can be devastating. In addition to monetary loss, the damage to a company’s reputation can be extensive. In one survey, over sixty percent of respondents felt that the attack affected their employer’s reputation, while six percent lost trust in their employers. Ransomware is a very stigmatizing issue, and many organizations try to sweep the attack under the rug as quickly as possible. 

Cost Of A Ransomware Attack

During a ransomware attack, hackers encrypt files, preventing the business from generating revenue or providing services. Such attacks also affect customer trust. As a result, businesses must spend significant resources on public relations and marketing efforts to rebuild customer trust and confidence. Moreover, an attack can cause downtime, costing a business a lot of money. Thus, it is necessary that issues about ransomware explained in a detailed yet simpler manner. In addition to downtime, it can lead to significant losses in brand value and lost opportunities. The average cost of a ransomware attack to a business will be upwards of $2 million. Therefore, the cost of ransomware attacks is not only a personal concern but also a business’s most valuable asset.

Recovery Time

Identifying the recovery time after a ransomware attack on your business is vital to the success of your recovery plan. Even if your IT infrastructure has regular backups, it can still cause major problems. The good news is that most businesses can restore their systems within a month. However, you could face a significant financial loss if your system remains down for more than five days.

The recovery process involves restoring data and restoring applications. However, knowing which files to restore and where to restore them is essential for minimizing data loss. To do so, your IT team must quickly identify the impact of a ransomware attack and determine the best way to restore the affected environment. This may require manual sifting through millions of files. Ultimately, a mass restoration of your entire environment may be required. Some ransomware variants will delete any backups on a compromised network, making the recovery process much more complex. Depending on your backup system, the process can take several days. Because of these potential costs, planning for a certain amount of downtime during a ransomware attack is wise.

Reputational Damage

The consequences of a ransomware attack for a business can be significant. A breach of customer data can cause huge revenue losses and ruin a company’s reputation. Ransomware attacks can also undermine the confidence of information security and IT teams. If a ransomware attack encrypts files important to a business, it can shut it down completely. Data loss will result in lost revenue and the inability to serve customers. Additionally, the interruption will damage the business’s reputation and result in a loss of trust. After a ransomware attack, the company should notify its cyber liability insurer. This will help the company decide how to handle the situation. In addition, the insurer will provide options for consulting with forensic IT experts and legal counsel. Failure to follow the procedures can result in excluding coverage for some expenses.