10-10-13 | Blog Post
According to the 2013 Cost of a Cybercrime Study conducted by the Ponemon Institute and Hewlett-Packard, the cost of cybercrime has increased 78 percent since the first study was conducted four years ago. The cost to enterprises to pay to clean up after a cyberattack has also increased 26 percent from 2012, according to SearchSecurity.com.
As HP.com reports, the average time to resolve a cyberattack has also increased significantly by nearly 130 percent. The average cost to resolve one breach costs an organization more than $1 million, while actual costs for larger organizations can reach up to $58 million.
What accounts for the major increases in time and cost to resolve data breaches? According to the study, an increase in the level of sophistication of attacks is to blame. The most costly cybercrimes are caused by denial-of-service, malicious insider and web-based attacks, accounting for 55 percent of all cybercrime costs per organization.
How can you avoid being a victim of a data breach? Layer up on technical security tools to deter web-based attacks, for one. A web application firewall (WAF) can protect web servers and databases as it sits behind your virtual or dedicated firewall and scans all incoming traffic for any malicious attacks. The neat thing about a WAF is that it uses dynamic profiling to learn, over time, what kind of traffic is normal, and what could trigger reason for alarm.
Encryption is another best practice to securely transmit information online. Avoid interception by hackers by using an SSL certificate to encrypt data as it moves from a browser to a server containing an application or website. Pair this with the use of a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to securely access your organization’s network as well as two-factor authentication to provide an extra level of access security, and your data is safe as it travels across wireless networks.
The study verifies that the investment in ‘security intelligence technologies’ pays off – organizations that used them experienced an average cost savings of nearly $4 million per year, with a 21 percent return on investment (ROI) over other technology categories. According to the study, the organizations were more efficient in detecting and containing cyberattacks.
In addition, investing in security resources, appointing a high-level security leader and employing certified staff can also reduce cybercrime costs and save an estimated $1.5 million per year. But if that’s not in your budget, outsourcing to a secure and compliant IT partner can also allow you to take advantage of their investments and save on resources and personnel costs.
The increased cyber threats of hackers and data theft presents a strong case for employing encryption and infrastructure that both secures data while delivering strong computing performance for optimal data availability and reliability. In this white paper, different types of encryption will be discussed, including using encryption in the cloud.
Although encryption is not a silver bullet of data or system security, it is one key tool that can be accompanied by a full arsenal of security services for a layered-defense approach to ensuring data is protected, even if accessed by unauthorized individuals. Additional security options to add to your IT solution will be covered.
Download our latest white paper, Encryption of Cloud Data.
References:
Average Cost of Cybercrime Grows Again Due to Sophisticated Attacks
HP Reveals Cost of Cybercrime Escalates 78 Percent, Time to Resolve Attacks More Than Doubles
