Intelligent CISO Issue 42 | Page 34

PREDICTIVE INTELLIGENCE

US $ 700,000 and the direct link between the integrity of critical IT infrastructure and the bottom line is evident .
Ultimately , this can present an existential threat . On December 31 2019 , for example , Travelex , which at the time was the world ’ s largest currency dealer , was hit by a ransomware attack accompanied by a demand for US $ 6 million .
After a month of business disruption , the company reportedly paid US $ 2.3 million to its attackers , but by August 2020 had gone into administration with the loss of 1,300 jobs . The impact of the attack was described as a contributing factor to the financial difficulties that caused it to fail .
In fact , research indicates that 90 % of businesses without a Disaster Recovery strategy will fail in the aftermath of a disaster . In contrast , nearly all ( 96 %) of companies that do have a trusted backup and Disaster Recovery plan are able to survive ransomware attacks .
A renewed emphasis on resilience
Many organisations have responded to these risks by increasing investment in solutions to protect their systems . According to recent market analysis published by Gartner , worldwide spending on information security and risk management technology and services is forecast to grow 12.4 % to US $ 150.4 billion this year .
However , increasing spending on cybersecurity solutions alone is not a panacea to varied risks organisations face , but it is important that there is a stronger front line defence in general .
The answer lies in a holistic strategy that combines Disaster Recovery and backup with cybersecurity prevention solutions , and integrating both into one infrastructure resilience strategy is key .
Instead of a legacy approach where the teams in control of cybersecurity , Business Continuity and Disaster
Recovery have often operated in silos , organisations are increasingly viewing this as a disjointed process with the potential to leave serious blind spots in their defences .
When cyber-resilience , IT resilience and business resilience are brought together to deliver a coordinated response to
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