Organizations face devastating financial consequences from cyberattacks

A new report from Barracuda Networks and the Ponemon Institute looks at 'cybernomics' -- the financial forces that are driving cyberattacks.

Based on a survey of over 1,900 IT security practitioners it finds the average annual cost to respond to compromises is a startling $5.34 million.

The report also rings alarm bells about hackers exploring how they can use generative AI technology to increase the volume, sophistication, and effectiveness of their attacks. 50 percent of respondents believe AI will enable hackers to launch more attacks. The survey also identified that 71 percent of respondents had experienced a ransomware attack over the last year, and 61 percent paid the ransom.

"While the Cybernomics 101 research underscores the harsh reality of suffering a data breach, it also underscores that organizations are not powerless," says Fleming Shi, CTO of Barracuda. "Proactive monitoring and attack detection to prevent progression to more severe stages like data exfiltration or ransomware is key. By preparing for these scenarios today, organizations can significantly reduce the impact and cost of these incidents."

The report also offers best practices that will help any organization become more effective in identifying, containing, and recovering from attacks. These include adopting a platform approach to security rather than relying on a collection of individual security tools or solutions, implementing privileged access rights to ensure that sensitive data remains accessible only to authorized individuals, and creating (and regularly rehearsing) a security incident response plan.

You can get the full report from the Barracuda site and read more on the company's blog. There will also be a webinar to discuss the findings on February 14th at 10am PT.

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