As cyber attacks escalate, firms must prioritise cybersecurity measures

THE inexorable push towards greater digitalisation is surely a boon for everyone: Farmers can access a microloan via a phone app; corporations can eke out ever greater efficiencies. In this era where pandemics may become endemic, digital capabilities enable remote working. Who can imagine life without digital access today?

But there is, to be sure, a dark side. As digitalisation becomes ubiquitous, cyber attacks have also proliferated, exposing systemic vulnerabilities and rising to a scale unseen in previous years. The latest statistics are sobering. Worse still is the general state of apparent unpreparedness of digital users and the prospect that cyber insurance may not cover losses to the degree that companies hope for.

By one estimate, cyber attacks have soared globally by 600 per cent since the onset of Covid-19 in 2020. Attacks are also growing in sophistication, whether by phishing emails or malware - in particular, the dreaded ransomware. Ransomware encrypts users' files; attackers demand a ransom to restore access. Increasingly there is a second threat as files are "exfiltrated'' to criminals who threaten to make the data publicly available. A global survey by Sophos of some 5400 IT decision-makers in 30 countries including Singapore found that 37 per cent were hit by ransomware in the last year. The average ransom paid by mid-size organisations was over US$170,000. But even after ransom was paid, just 65 per cent of encrypted data was restored. Interestingly, Singapore ranked third highest in remediation costs at US$3.4 million, compared to the global average of US$1.8 million