What does a hacker have to gain from me?

“My data are not at all of interest to hackers.” Such is the thinking of many business owners and administrators. Wrong thinking, because the data do have value. In fact, you find that out the moment they are blocked.

For the most part, it is probably true: your data is not at all that interesting and/or valuable to most of the world. Therefore, hackers are almost never concerned with selling this data to other parties. Their intention is to hold the data hostage and thus make work impossible for you. Take your own private photos: to others, those photos are not that interesting at all, and they will not care much to buy them. But to you, those photos do have great value, and the moment you lose them, you want them back.

Value!
Extortion, therefore, is always based on the value of, in this case, data to the victim. And therefore, anyone can fall victim to hackers with ransomware, and it is important to protect this data properly. Also non-commercial companies and most recently the KNVB. Addresses of members and other data traded on the darkweb is causing significant reputational damage to the KNVB. Additionally, many small ones also make a big one, so individuals and small organizations are not safe from hackers either. A thousand individuals with encrypted photos, might be willing to pay 100 euros to get their photos back. And that’s how a hacker earns as much as 100,000 euros. It is true that individuals are less likely to be victims of hackers these days than they were about 5 or 10 years ago. They back up regularly or have an airgapped copy of their most important data, such as photos.

Security is mandatory
On top of that, as an organization or business, you often store some information about other people in your data. It is required by law to protect this data. If you don’t, you risk a fine and reputational damage. That also ends up costing money. Reputation also represents value: a company or organization with a good reputation will attest to that. See the example of the KNVB. Therefore, as an organization, you are also willing to pay the ransom for your data. It is true in almost all cases of hacking that it is not necessarily marketable data, it is data that represents a value to the owner. And so that value has different aspects.

Get it right!
Certainly, backing up is a bit more complicated for large companies and organizations than for an individual. It’s a lot more work, but that doesn’t absolve you of the obligation and need to protect your data. This is possible with Silent Bricks and Silent Cubes: of course, we are happy to tell you more about our role in proper protection. Please feel free to contact us for more information!