It’s a low-cost, relatively easy attack tool that can be readily deployed against SMBs. “Ransomware as a service (RaaS) can be simply bought or deployed, with little technical know-how,” Milbourne tells CSO. As a result, SMBs are not setting aside sufficient resources, leaving them poorly protected. “Reframing how SMBs think about ransomware and putting policies and technology in place to better protect themselves is critical to avoid falling victim.”
If they do suffer an attack, businesses need to call on expert support to help manage the situation, especially given that making a payout is by no means a guarantee of recovering data.
There are some sobering statistics on the impact of an attack. US small businesses paid over $16,000 in ransoms last year, according to the Hiscox Cyber Readiness 2023 report. “Ransomware is costing small businesses in a big way,” says Christopher Hojnowski, VP and product head of technology and cyber at Hiscox insurers, who works with over 600,000 small businesses across the US.
Only half of surveyed businesses that paid a ransom ended up getting their data back, while half had to rebuild systems. In addition, a…
