Major, Global Cyber Attack Could Trigger Huge Economic Losses

The latest research from the Lloyd's of London has found that a major, global cyber attack could trigger an average of $53 billion of economic losses , a figure on par with a catastrophic natural disaster such as US Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

Commenting on the news is Dean Ferrando, Systems Engineering Manager (EMEA) at Tripwire, had this to say: “$53 billion is an astronomical figure and it could get even worse unless organisations understand that securing IT infrastructures, endpoint devices and data is not a simple case of having the latest technology.

"There is a plethora of choice in defence mechanisms for examples: Firewalls, IDS/IPS, Encryption, Duel Factor Authentication, System Integrity Monitoring, Change Management, Off-line Backup, Vulnerability Management and Configuration Management to name but a few. If enterprises are to avoid being stung by a cyber attack they need a security hygiene program that incorporates educating the workforce about security, installing protective platforms which involves investing in the right technology.

"An important point to mention would be that having the right technology also means maintaining the basic levels of patching. If everyone implemented this and followed the business recommended processes, then we would start to see a reduced number in attacks and the costs that surround them.”