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of productivity and, undoubtedly, reputation were even more severe. It certainly got the
attention of the government.

In its fourth annual Cyberthreat Defense Report, the CyberEdge Group includes findings from
1,100 IT security decision makers and practitioners from 15 countries, six continents and 19
industries who reported, a nearly unbelievable 61 percent of responding organizations were
compromised by ransomware in 2016. Worse, the firm reported that one-third of all victims
surveyed felt they had no alternative other than paying the ransom associated with an attack.

Mike Rothman, president of security analyst firm Securosis says these findings are consistent
with what that firm is seeing in the industry. He says, “There are more attacks, more
sophisticated malware, and more complexity ahead.” On the positive front, he notes, budgets
continue to increase and security initiatives are very high profile, consistently getting boardroom
visibility. “So, all in all, it’s the best of times and the worst of times for security folks,” he adds.

Your budget may be rising but is it enough to cover the cost of new preventative technology
while you struggle to afford maintaining the necessary solutions you already have in place?

While its common knowledge that multilayered security solutions that cover gateways,
endpoints, networks, and servers can help prevent ransomware infections, even the best
security posture has gaps and it’s wise to at least investigate new technology solutions. But
what should you look at if you have convinced management, or yourself, that ransomware
should rise to the top of a very large pile of cyber threat line items? Once again, the
Cyberthreat Defense Report could be helpful. Of the 16 network security technologies depicted
in the survey, the one most sought after by 41% of the respondents this year is network
deception technology.

There is no question that prioritizing the list of what to spend based on the myriad of costs any
CISO faces can be extremely difficult. However, based on the overwhelming evidence that
ransomware is in your future, you might take a look at deception technology as something to
move higher on that list. If holding data hostage may be on the rise, so is one of its best
deterrents. Considering the inherent costs, it may be time to avoid paying later.

About the Author

Carolyn has over 25 years of experience in high tech marketing and sales
management. At Attivo Networks she is the Chief Marketing Officer
responsible for overall marketing strategy, building company awareness,
and creating customer demand through education programs and
technology partnerships. She has built leading brand strategy and
awareness, high-impact demand generation programs and strong
partnerships for some of the industry’s fasted growing high-tech companies
including Cisco Systems, Juniper Networks, Riverbed, Nimble Storage, and Maxta.

69 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – July 2017 Edition
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