With the average ransomware payment increasing by 82% year-over-year, organizations across Canada are facing what cybersecurity specialists are hailing as “The Ransomware Armageddon.”
Combined with the fact that the average downtime after a ransomware attack is over 20 days, proactive cybersecurity has become a top priority for leaders across all industries.
Proactive security: beyond defense
Anticipating and addressing threats before a cybercriminal strikes is crucial for effective defense. Reactive measures alone often fall short, exposing companies to operational downtime, financial losses, and reputational damage.
By proactively investing in updated Incident Response Plans, Employee Awareness Training, and cybersecurity measures–like Red Teaming exercises–that go beyond automated vulnerability scans, organizations can empower their teams and maintain competitiveness in a threat landscape where “reputational contagion” means that a single successful ransomware attack can cost billions in reputation-related losses.
Two ways your organization can counteract ransomware attacks
Red Teaming is a critical component of any successful cyber program, as it simulates real-world attacks to measure your team’s reaction times, monitoring, and response to cyber threats. In today’s modern cyber threat landscape, the speed with which a team responds means the difference between a “minor” disruption–ranging from hours to days–to major disruptions that can last weeks to months, yielding massive business losses.
When it comes to a ransomware attack, it isn’t a matter of ‘if’–it’s a matter of ‘when.’ And there is no better counterattack than proactive cybersecurity.”
Dark Web Monitoring, one of the 100% tester-driven services offered by Toronto-based penetration testing firm Packetlabs, works to track and contain mentions of your organization on the Dark Web. Monitoring the Dark Web is not just a precautionary measure—it’s a vital defense for protecting your company’s brand, assets, data, associates, and partners.
“At Packetlabs, we believe the best defense starts with offense–specifically, looking at your network from a ransomware operator’s perspective in order to understand how they would move throughout your IT systems,” says Richard Rogerson, Founder and CEO of Packetlabs. “Often, organizations rapidly deploy countless technologies and tooling without understanding how effective they are at reducing the likelihood and impact of a breach. When it comes to a ransomware attack, it isn’t a matter of ‘if’–it’s a matter of ‘when.’ And there is no better counterattack than proactive cybersecurity.”
Download our comprehensive Ransomware Response and Prevention Checklist for more actionable steps towards safeguarding your organization’s most critical assets.
