ransomware attacks create catastrophe

Why You Should Be Concerned about Cyber Security

Deanne Macdonald Marketing Coordinator headshot | December 2nd, 2021

Are you prepared to pay out hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars to a criminal to keep your plant running? Are you prepared to be shut down for weeks while getting the criminal to give you back your information? If not, keep reading.

Ransomware attacks are on the rise. I read an article today that said attacks are up 148% in 2021. The banking industry saw a 1318% increase! You can look up statistics and articles about ransomware and the one thing all of them indicate, is that ransomware is a thriving business and could very likely hit your enterprise at some point in the future. This makes cyber security more important than ever.

Here are just a few facts about Ransomware attacks. 

  • In 2021, the largest ransomware payout was made by an insurance company at $40 million, setting a world record. (Business Insider, 2021)
  • The average ransom fee requested has increased from $5,000 in 2018 to around $200,000 in 2020. (National Security Institute, 2021)
  • Experts estimate that a ransomware attack will occur every 11 seconds in 2021. (Cybercrime Magazine, 2019) 
  • The average downtime a company experiences after a ransomware attack is 21 days. (Coveware, 2021)

As a note, 30% of Ransomware attacks are aimed directly at Manufacturers. 

One of the reasons these attacks are increasing is a new “product” called RaaS, or Ransomware as a Service. Creators of ransomware tools sell their software to anyone who wants to buy in and use it to make money. Their “subscription fee” is a percentage of the take from any successful Ransomware attack using their software. The creators “sell” a subscription to anyone who wants to give it a shot, which increases their reach and the number of potential attacks. Now, instead of having to do the hacking themselves, they have a network of people who do the hacking for them, and they get rich off of the percentage they collect. They can increase their “profits” while decreasing the chances of getting caught, as they are not the ones doing the hacking.

Where you once had a few skilled hackers making these attacks, the new RaaS model allows an exponentially greater number of people to attack whatever company they wish. This also allows for attacks on smaller e-commerce companies. 

Someone in another country to whom $40 is a month’s wages, might go for a smaller company rather than a Facebook (who was successfully attacked in 2021) or a Volkswagen & Audi (who was also successfully attacked in 2021). Attacking a smaller enterprise decreases the chances that they will be hunted down, while increasing the chances that they will be paid. 

Quite a scam. 

What can you do to improve your Cyber Security?

There are numerous things one can do to beef up Cyber Security in your enterprise, all of which require an investment of time and money. However, it is a very important investment. Training your people on what emails they should and shouldn’t open is also very important. But even with the best training, you still have the possibility that one of your employees, either in the plant or working remotely, could inadvertently open something that would allow a hacker into your system. 

So, is there a foolproof way to prevent hackers from accessing your systems? Nothing is foolproof, but there is a way to beef up your security while also improving your ERP. Move it to the Cloud and ensure that you have a Cloud Provider with Rottweiler grade Cyber Security (read this for more info).

Infor’s CloudSuite Industrial (SyteLine) uses AWS (Amazon Web Services) for cloud ERP. AWS has serious Cyber Security included. This can not only increase the protection of your enterprise data, but the additional products and services that Infor includes with moving your ERP to the Cloud make this an even better move to consider. 

To find out more about CloudSuite Industrial – Infor’s Cloud ERP – visit this page https://www.logicdata.com/products/infor-syteline-erp-system-cloudsuite-industrial . Or contact us https://www.logicdata.com/contact/

Infographic summarizing ransomware, its relationship to manufacturers, cyber-security and how to improve your security