Businesses these days benefit in many ways as a result of the evolution of technology. Most businesses have become so reliant on modern tech that they would struggle to operate if this technology was suddenly removed from them. However, another thing that businesses have to deal with as a result of advanced technology is rising instances of cybercrime such as ransomware attacks, which can cause huge issues for businesses of all sizes.
Ransomware attacks can be especially damaging to businesses, as it can result in loss of data and files, loss of access to systems, and huge financial costs. In some cases, it can result in all of these issues because even after paying the ransom, there is no guarantee that the cybercriminals will decrypt the files so that the business can gain access again. It is vital for businesses to take action to prevent these attacks or to deal with them quickly and efficiently. In this article, we will look at the impact of ransomware attacks on businesses.
How These Attacks Can Affect Your Business
There are several key ways in which these attacks can affect your business, and these are serious effects that can be devastating. Some of the effects are:
Operations Halted Due to Lack of Access
One of the major problems your business could face is everything grinding to a halt because you can no longer access your files, data, and systems. Our reliance on digital technology means that even a power outage can lead to massive disruption for businesses, so imagine what a ransomware attack could do! For many businesses, loss of access to data and files means that they cannot continue operations, and this means loss of productivity and financial losses as well as the impact on customers and clients.
Having to Find Huge Sums of Money
Another major issue that businesses face when it comes to this sort of attack is having to find huge sums of money to pay the ransom demanded by the criminals. These demands can run into the hundreds of thousands and beyond, and without paying it, you are at risk of being unable to access your systems.
Criminals Failing to Decrypt After Making Payment
One of the other issues in the worst-case scenario is that you are hit with a ransomware attack, you find the money to pay the criminals, and they still do not decrypt the information. This then means that you have suffered huge financial losses and are still no better off. This happens far more often than many people realize, with criminals failing to decrypt in closes to half of ransomware attacks even after being paid.
It is vital that you have a backup in place to help protect you in the event of a ransomware attack. Cloud backup is a very popular and secure choice, but you need to ensure you also use a solution such as Veeam Object Lock so that cybercriminals cannot also attack the data and files on your cloud backup.
