DDoS Breach Costs Exceed $2M for Enterprises: Kaspersky Lab Report

PRESS RELEASE

Woburn, MA – February 22, 2018 – According to Kaspersky Lab research, the financial impact of a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is continuing to rise globally – totalling over $120K for SMBs and costing enterprises over $2M, per attack on average.

Kaspersky Lab’s IT Security Risks Survey 2017* shows that the average cost of a DDoS attack on organizations has risen dramatically over the past year. Whether as the result of a single incident or when DDoS has formed part of a multi-faceted cyberattack, the financial implications of reacting to a DDoS attack in 2017 is $123K for SMBs, compared to $106K in 2016.

For enterprises, the cost has soared to more than half a million dollars – from $1.6M in 2016 to $2.3M in 2017, on average. The rising financial costs of DDoS attacks, coupled with unquantifiable impacts such as reputational damage, is crippling for many organizations.

When asked about the specific consequences experienced as a result of a DDoS attack, most organizations (33%) claim that the cost incurred in fighting the attack and restoring services is the main burden, while a quarter (25%) cited money spent investing in an offline or back-up system while online services are unavailable. Additionally, 23 percent said that a loss of revenue and business opportunities occurred as a direct result ofDDoS attacks, whereas 22 percent listed the loss of reputation amongst clients and partners as another, direct consequence of a DDoS attack.

With DDoS attacks on the rise and the cost of picking up the pieces also rising year-over-year, organizations cannot afford to leave themselves vulnerable but they are often expecting third-parties to protect their business. According to the research, 34 percent of organizations expect their Internet Service Provider (ISP) will protect them and 26 percent expect their data center or infrastructure partners will protect them from DDoS attacks. Additionally, nearly a third (28 percent) claim that it is unlikely that they will be targeted by a DDoS attack in general.

“DDoS attacks, both standalone or as part of an attack arsenal, can cost an organization thousands, if not millions – that’s without counting reputational damage and lost clients and partners as a result,” said Kirill Ilganaev, head of Kaspersky DDoS protection, Kaspersky Lab. “It is therefore wise to be aware of these threats and invest in their ownprotective measures in advance. It is also important to choose reliable specialized security solutions that are based on cybersecurity expertise and tailored to fight the most sophisticated DDoS attacks organizations face today.”

*The IT Security Risks research is an annual survey conducted by Kaspersky Lab in conjunction with B2B International. In 2017 we asked more than 5,200 representatives of small, medium (50 to 999) and large (1000+) businesses from 29 countries about their views on IT security and the real incidents that they have had to deal with.