In a recent survey by Price Waterhouse Cooper , cybersecurity was identified as the top business risk faced by C-level executives. Not staffing shortages. Not supply chain constraints. Cybersecurity is seen as the biggest business risk. So much so that Gartner speculates that by 2026, 50% of C-level executives, not just the CISO, will have cybersecurity performance requirements written into their employment contracts.
The Fantasy
Unfortunately, according to this CNBC survey, 56% of the SMB owners surveyed said they are “not very concerned” about being the victim of a cyber-attack in the next 12 months, and among those, 24% said they were “not concerned at all.” The researchers determined that SMB owners were generally quite confident (59%) that even if they were hit with a cyber-attack, they’d quickly resolve it.
In spite of dramatically escalating costs and breach numbers, a survey by insurance giant Nationwide showed that 40% of small business owners expect a cyber-attack to cost less than $1,000, and another 60% think it would take less than three months to fully recover.
The Truth
In reality, according to the 2022 IBM Data Breach Report, in the United States a major data breach actually costs on average $9.44 Million, and takes on average 9 months to resolve. In healthcare, the worst industry, it costs over $10 Million.
With the combined impact of the cost to remediate the breach, the lost revenue stream, operational impact of IT systems being offline for weeks and months, and the damage to the business reputation, only 40% will survive. The majority of businesses hit with a major data breach won’t survive to see the end of the event, even if they pay the ransom demand or have cyber insurance. This is why C-level executives understand that this is the biggest business risk.
What To Do?
Don’t be in denial about this existential threat to your business. Rocky Mountain Cybersecurity can implement 2 strategies that on average cut the cost of a major data breach in half. We offer cyber insurance policies and attestation services, vulnerability scans, compliance services, and more to help make sure you can survive in the face of the #1 risk to your business, cyber-attacks. Our business is saving your business. Call or email us today to speak with our cybersecurity experts about how to address your business risk problems with our simple and affordable solutions.
