How to prepare your construction business for cyber attacks in 2022

In 2021 the Construction Industry has seen a significant increase in ransomware attacks. It is a low effort/high reward activity that in 2022 is expected to take place every 11 seconds and cost businesses $20 billion annually. Construction companies, with thousands of files distributed across a myriad of applications, and with employees, subcontractors, and partners scattered across numerous job sites, are especially vulnerable.

The average ransomware payment for 2020 was $178,254 up from $84,000 in 2019.

The ransom is the inexpensive part. Attacks cost companies an average of $4.44 million per breach through a combination of shutting down business operations, remediation efforts, legal fees, lost revenue due to reputational harm.

The average ransomware attack causes 15 business days of downtime whether you pay the ransom or try to restore from a backup. In that timeframe, businesses lose around $8,500 per hour due to ransomware-induced downtime.

The threat of ransomware continues to rise as economic and technological factors make AEC firms prime targets for bad actors.

The threat of ransomware continues to rise as economic and technological factors make AEC firms prime targets for bad actors. The only way to stem this increase in attacks is to make it unprofitable to criminals by making it either too difficult to breach the network, through both active defense and employee education, or by not paying the ransom and thus denying them a return. But it requires forethought, planning and diligence to both harden the network and have secure backup to replace the files rather than paying the ransom.

As the saying goes: there are two types of companies, those who have been attacked and those that will be attacked. A comprehensive program that starts by looking at the most critical content is required to prepare for a ransomware attack so the firm can mitigate the impact and get operations up and running as soon as possible.

To help you understand how your peers are tackling ransomware and to receive a personalised guide to help you tackle and plan for your next attack, take part in this live industry review from Egnyte.

You’ll receive your personalised guide and can join a 1-2-1 session at DCW live in November to learn a number of practical steps to ensure data protection and help mitigate the risk of cyber attacks in your organisation.