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A new study has shed light on the operational and financial impact of ransomware attacks on Australian organisations.
Ransomware attacks continue to make headlines across the globe as new gangs emerge and the count of victims increases.
They’re also increasingly causing alarming disruptions to those impacted, with new research from cyber security firm Illumio showing that 64 per cent of Australian ransomware victims were forced to halt operations entirely in the wake of the breach.
“Ransomware is more pervasive and impactful than ever, but not all attacks need result in the suspension of operations or major business failure,” Trevor Dearing, director of critical infrastructure at Illumio, said in a statement.
Illumio’s The Global Cost of Ransomware Study – conducted by the Ponemon Institute, which polled 2,547 IT and cyber security practitioners in the US, UK, Germany, France, Australia and Japan – found that 43 per cent of Australian organisations suffered significant revenue losses, while 42 per cent were forced to shed jobs and 39 per cent reported losing customers following a ransomware attack.
Thirty-nine per cent of ransomware victims also experienced “significant” damage to their brand.
The research also showed that Australian companies are being particularly impacted by ransomware attacks. Critical systems were impacted in 28 per cent of attacks, and downtime averaged 12 hours per attack. Both figures were the highest globally.
The investment in time and personnel is also stark. On average, it took 17 people and 134 hours to mitigate an attack.
Sadly, Australia appears to be lagging behind their US counterparts. Only 18 per cent of Australian organisations have introduced micro-segmentation to their networks, compared to 44 per cent of organisations in the US. In fact, the global average is far higher than the Australian figure.
“Organisations need operational resilience and controls like micro-segmentation that stop attackers from reaching critical systems should be non-negotiable,” Dearing said.
“By containing attacks at the point of entry, organisations can protect critical systems and data, and save millions in downtime, lost business, and reputational damage.”
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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