Page 121 - Cyber Defense eMagazine for September 2020

Cyber Liability Insurance – Safe Bet or Sales Gimmick?

By Darren T. Kimura, Spin Technology

WORD COUNT: 745/ 600-1000

The threat of ransomware is rising rapidly. Each day, we see more stories about companies overtaken
by this type of cyberattack. Garmin and Canon, two well-known consumer brands, are the most recent
examples of organizations that paid large sums of money to criminal organizations to regain access to
their company data. In Garmin’s case, the demanded ransom was over $10 million, which doesn’t include
wasted company time and resources, customer loss, legal fees, fines, or the amount paid to an
organization to negotiate with the hackers on their behalf. Even organizations with tight security protocols
can be affected – cybercriminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their methods as the payout
for ransomware creeps higher.

While an attack on a large organization is costly, ransomware for a small or medium-sized business can
be disastrous as well. The majority of all cyber-attacks aren’t directed at multi-million-dollar companies;
they’re leveraged against smaller businesses that may not have the resources to dedicate to creating a
fully secure environment for their data. In fact, a recent study showed that 60 percent of SMBs will suffer
a data breach at some point, and 70 percent are targets for ransomware. Even more shocking – 86

Cyber Defense eMagazine – September 2020 Edition 121
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