NetApp research shows that 38 per cent of Dutch IT co-decision makers surveyed do not have a full understanding of where sensitive data resides and how it is secured
Resilience against a cyberattack depends largely on the backups that companies make.
The question is not so much whether organisations will suffer a cyber attack, but more when the attack will occur. A cyber attack disrupts day-to-day operations and costs organisations a lot of money. The cost of cyber attacks is expected to rise 15 per cent annually to $10.5 trillion by 2025. While cloud services have become an important part of business operations in recent years, they are also increasingly victims of cyber attacks. NetApp research shows that nearly 60 per cent of companies surveyed have experienced a cyber attack at some point, resulting in reputational damage, process shutdowns and loss of important data.
60 per cent of respondents have experienced an attack on on-premises software and/or the cloud environment. 28 per cent of those surveyed experienced consequences, of which 6 per cent reported that it had a major impact on the organisation.
The degree of impact felt in the organisation is related to several factors. Organisations that are well prepared and have a good contingency plan in place for situations such as a ransomware attack can often limit the consequences.
It is important to have a good overview of the infrastructure and where sensitive data is stored. However, 38 per cent of Dutch IT co- and end decision-makers say they do not have a full understanding of where sensitive data is and how it is secured. In addition, they believe there are still plenty of areas for improvement in their infrastructure. In fact, 4 per cent of respondents indicate that they have no insight into their data infrastructure at all.
The resilience of organisations against a cyber attack largely depends on the backups an organisation makes. 86 per cent of IT co- and end decision-makers indicate that the organisation is set up in such a way that data can always be retrieved. This allows an organisation to restore services and come back from a ransomware attack in the foreseeable future. However, over 9 per cent of decision-makers still indicate that they are not yet adequately equipped for a possible attack.
"Data is a company's most important asset. That is why a cyber-attack has such an impact on the entire business. Backing up to protect this valuable data remains the number one advice, but knowledge of how the infrastructure is put together is equally important. The more insight one has into data flows, the faster suspicious patterns will be noticed. That almost four in 10 respondents admit to not having enough visibility into where sensitive data is stored and how it is secured, I find remarkable. Cybercriminals are getting smarter, and in 60 per cent of organisations, they apparently already managed to penetrate important company data using hostage software. If you are not on top of it as an organisation, you give criminals free rein and that is not only dangerous for the organisation, but also for customers and partners," says Oscar Wijnants, Country Director NetApp Netherlands.
