How much does a cyber attack cost businesses?

In 2022, 1 in 2 companies experienced a cyber attack (Cesin 2023)

For companies, a cyber attack encompasses any permanent threat to a system. Cyberattacks can originate from internal users, most often victims of phishing attacks, or from hackers external to the organization who manage to exploit vulnerabilities detected online. The major problem with cyber attacks, whatever the size of the company, is their invisible cost.

What many companies fail to foresee is the millions of euros that evaporate as a result of these attacks. As well as being financially devastated and losing sensitive data, they jeopardize the trust of their customers. No company is immune to these threats.

What are the potential cyber-attack threats conveyed by e-mail?

Hackers are creating increasingly sophisticated tactics to deceive their victims. The most common e-mail threats are as follows:

• Phishing / spear-phishing: often in the form of identity theft, hackers will create a sense of urgency and fear, using different, hard-to-recognize pretexts and means of impersonation.
• Business Email Compromise (BEC): compromise of business e-mails.
• DDoS attacks: computer attacks designed to render a service or website inaccessible by saturating the network or server with large amounts of traffic from multiple sources.
• Ransomware / malware: computer program designed to break into a computer system without authorization and cause damage, steal data or even demand ransom. It is one of the most costly cyberattacks, as there are several variables of malware, polymorphs, metamorphs, aware of their environment…
• Social engineering: attack approach based on the manipulation and deception of individuals to obtain sensitive information or gain access to computer systems.
• Virus: infectious program capable of replicating and spreading independently.
• Spam: unsolicited messages, often sent en masse to disseminate advertising content, but which may contain scams, malware or other harmful content.

What is the impact of cyber attacks on businesses?

In France, the average cost is 59,000 euros for 385,000 cyberattacks detected by consulting firm Asterès. This figure does not include companies with fewer than 10 employees. This represents an average of 2 attacks per organization. SMEs (fewer than 250 employees) are the most frequently affected, with 330,000 successful cyberattacks. By comparison, ETIs (between 250 and 5,000 employees) and large corporations suffered just 17,000 successful attacks. The remainder targeted public organizations.

The loss of revenue does not only concern sales, but also insurance costs, monitoring costs, notification costs, loss of stock market value, legal costs, ransoms…

What are the direct effects of a cyber attack on users?

A cyber-attack can damage a company’s employees and teams. It can have a significant impact on their state of mind and quality of life at work. It triggers feelings of powerlessness, vulnerability and betrayal… At this stage, the impact is aimed directly at human mental health, causing anxiety and stress on a daily basis, especially for IT managers and directors. The most effective approach to countering a cyber attack is to contact a cybersecurity expert.

The impact of a cyber attack on a company is not only financial, but can also affect: the company’s reputation, its productivity, its activities, the legal and regulatory consequences for the company, its customers…

What other costs does a cyber attack entail for a company?

The consequences of a cyber attack are reflected over several years in the form of hidden costs. Many of these are less easily measurable: damage to corporate image, business interruption, loss of confidential information…

This iceberg is a perfect illustration of what we call hidden costs. On the one hand, above the surface: the best-known costs. On the other, below the surface: the invisible costs. That’s why it’s always better to prevent an attack than to have to recover from it completely.

Some examples of the costs associated with recent cyberattacks

A number of cyberattacks have left their mark, with successful attacks targeting major domains. These include an attack on TV5 Monde (2015), an attack on the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2019), an attack on EDF (2021) and many more…

• In September 2023, computer intrusion at the Saint-Vincent hospital group: In Strasbourg, the entire hospital network was brought to a standstill. Staff no longer had access to their software or mailboxes. An investigation is currently underway to understand the origin of this intrusion and determine whether any data has been compromised.
• In March 2023, a digital attack at Lille town hall: this cyberattack cost almost 1 million euros, and the bank details of municipal employees and elected representatives found their way online.
• In 2021, ransomware attack at Dax hospital: The total cost of the attack was 2.3 million euros. It took 2 years for the organization to recover.
• In 2020, data held hostage at Lise Charmel: Malicious computer software penetrated the Lyon-based high-end lingerie group. The company was placed in receivership, and it took several years before it was able to resume business.

How to identify and protect your company from cyber attacks?

To protect your company against cyber attacks, it’s essential to implement advanced security solutions. In fact, e-mail filtering and threat detection solutions are needed to secure your business e-mail systems against phishing attacks, malware and other threats.

• Email filtering: Block and analyze malicious emails.
• Two-factor authentication (2FA): Protects access to messaging systems with double verification.
• Phishing protection: Identifies and warns against phishing e-mails.
• Advanced threat detection: Uses AI to spot sophisticated attacks.
• Attachment filtering: Analyzes files for malware.
• Email encryption: Reinforces message content.
• Security training: makes employees aware of e-mail threats.
• Security dashboards: provide real-time visibility of e-mail security.

In conclusion, companies are exposed to the risk of increasingly sophisticated cyber-attacks. The consequences are disastrous, hence the need to strengthen their online security. This includes a combination of phishing awareness and advanced technologies like Altospam’s Mailsafe (anti-phishing, anti-spear phishing, anti-malware and anti-ransomware). Against this backdrop, Altospam, with over 20 years’ expertise in e-mail security, offers sovereign, effective solutions with a false positive rate of just 0.01%. These solutions help companies guard against online threats, protecting their reputation and their finances. Cybersecurity is not just an expense, but an essential investment in a company’s future.