Liquid Web’s “Cybersecurity Actions and Attitudes” Study Reveals Financial and Organizational Impact of Attacks

Liquid Web, LLC, the market leader in managed hosting and managed application services to small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), released its study on how cybersecurity attacks affect organizations. The findings show organizational consequences of attacks, response behaviors post-attack, and gauge preparedness against future attacks.

Participants in the study are U.S.-based technical professionals and executives who experienced a cyber-attack within the last two years. Nearly all such attacks resulted in lost revenue.

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“Not surprisingly, what we see from the study is that organizations big and small are affected by cybersecurity attacks, causing workflow disruptions, and more often than not, financial repercussions,” said Carrie Wheeler, EVP and Chief Operating Officer at Liquid Web. “But, what we were surprised to see is that some organizations are still not taking these threats seriously despite the considerable protections that software, resources, and hosting providers can provide against future attacks.”

Key findings from the Liquid Web Cybersecurity Actions and Attitudes Study:

• Attacks can have lengthy effects on the organization: 21.2% claim the impact of the attack on servers and systems exceeded one month.
• Ransomware is prevalent: 20.4% of cyberattacks were from ransomware, software, adware, or bots.
• Many attacks are unsuccessful, but still, have financial consequences: 55% of attacks were unsuccessful, yet over 93% of attacks resulted in some amount of revenue loss.
• Attacks cost organizations tens of thousands of dollars: 28.6% of organizations lost up to $10 thousand. On the high end, 2.4% of organizations lost more than $1 million.
• Organizations are investing heavily in protective software and programs:  74% are investing more in cybersecurity protections because of the attack with over 40% investing $50,000-250,000.
• Some organizations are not taking cyber-attacks seriously: 10% are spending less on protective software and programs than before the cyberattack.

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“If a website or application fuels the revenue generation of a business, the choice of a hosting provider should be a strategic one,” said Wheeler. “It’s clear that hosting providers need to be a partner in their clients’ businesses, not just a service. It’s why we deliver fully managed services, which means our SMBs can count on an around-the-clock security focus by a dedicated team working 24/7/365 to keep servers and our network clear of security threats. Our customers rely on us to deliver proactive security patches and updates, proactive service monitoring, and full restoration through our full suite of backup and disaster recovery services. We’re continually innovating Security & Compliance Services that can be added on to provide further protection. At Liquid Web, it’s our mission to provide speed, reliability, and security for our client’s websites and applications. That is their business, and we see it as part of ours, too.”