The Hollywood Presbyterian attack
In February 2016 a cyber attack on Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital commandeered access to every networked computer at the facility. The hack posed an immediate threat to human life, which is why the hospital was a perfect target. The attack was one of many instances of what had become the newest trend in cyber shakedowns: ransomware. Using malware, hackers take control of an institution's computers, making it impossible for them to communicate with their equipment. For a ransom, the hackers return control.
Encryption as defense and weapon
The incapacitating of communications and data retrieval at Hollywood Presbyterian was achieved using encryption, the same technology used at the enterprise level to protect data flow between machines with encrypted email, chat apps, and data storage. Properly utilized, encryption renders an organization's stores of data, whether vast and sensitive or more modest, useless to hackers. This is crucial. The Ponemon Institute found that among thousands of companies surveyed, only a minority had an enterprise-wide encryption strategy. That was up from a small fraction in 2005. Companies with zero encryption are dwindling, but a notable share of those in the Ponemon study still did not use it at all. Clearly, we had reached a point in the data crime epidemic where encryption should be a prerequisite to doing business.
The cost calculus of ransomware
The average cost of a data breach was skyrocketing, up to several million dollars according to Ponemon and IBM data, a sharp increase over 2013. The average cost per record had also increased from a lower figure to a higher figure globally. The average cost in the United States was considerably higher. While that might not seem precipitous, consider the Anthem breach: tens of millions of members were affected. The year-over-year increase would matter in a breach that size.
What ransomware will cost you. The common wisdom for setting a price on a product or service is that it can be as high as you like so long as someone is willing to pay. Banking on the hamster wheel effect of most workplaces, ransomware scams have an advantage. In a world where time truly is money, and lost time can significantly harm the bottom line, the