The consequences of a cyberattack? A fatal blow for many organizations

More and more large organizations and companies are getting attention from news due to them falling victim to data breaches, ransomware or cyberattacks. The Dutch Data Protection Authority reported an explosive increase in reports of a data breach in 2021. A doubling of the previous year, to be exact. The number of ransomware attacks will also increase by 33% in 2021, according to the annual report of the Public Prosecution Service. A cyberattack has become a serious threat every organization, regardless the size, must watch out for. We see a large part of the working population (in the Netherlands) fall behind. Entrepreneurs and employees are only partially aware of the consequences of a cyberattack for their company. It’s important for organizations to learn more and take responsibility for the processing and storage of their data. CIO, Marcel Krommenhoek talks about the risks of a cyber attack.
What exactly is a cyber attack?
A cyberattack refers to destroying, changing, or gaining access to (personal) data of an organization, without the permission of the organization. For example:
- Your USB stick with (personal) information of customers on it gets stolen;
- A hacker breaks into your computer network and steals (personal) information;
- Any type of ransomware.
Hackers that break into the network of an organization and acquire sensitive data are more common than often thought. To make matters worse, according to research from Cisco, about 60% of cyberattack victims go bankrupt within 3 years after the attack. How is that possible?
”Almost all organizations depend on digital data, so it has a huge impact if this data leaks or gets damaged.” Marcel explains. “We often see that a cyberattack has a long-term impact on business operations. This can result in direct operational loss, damage claims due to non-compliance with obligations or serious reputational damage. There are also considerable recovery costs and investments involved in a cyberattack so that the weak spots in the security can be closed. The combination of these matters puts the survival of the organization at risk.”
According to Marcel it’s not solely the cyber attack that causes bankruptcy. It’s the road to recovery and the associated costs that kill these companies. In the field of cybersecurity, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

The consequences of a cyberattack
It’s evident that the consequences of a cyberattack have a major impact. Identity theft due to a cyberattack is no joke, nor are the loss of sales or reputational damage. A few things that influence the impact of a cyberattack:
- How quickly can you recover: If the organization has the procedures in order and can recover quickly from an attack, this significantly reduces the impact. A temporary (short) disruption can often be managed well.
- Special features of the organization: by way of illustration, the risks of some kind of cyber-attack of a hospital will be greater than a data breach involving a newspaper mailing list.
- Duration of the attack: Sometimes a hacker has been in for days or weeks. If this is not detected, the damage can be very targeted and even recovery options can be compromised.
Cybersecurity 2023 – What do we have to protect?
With the increasing number of cyberattacks and organizations falling victim to a cyberattack, the question is not ‘if’, but ‘when’. Especially when organizations don’t improve their IT-security. Even though cybersecurity experts are constantly warning for this growing threat, action is often lacking. why is this? Cyber and security continues to be a difficult subject for organizations
According to Marcel: “This has several causes that reinforce each other. First, we see that IT budgets are under pressure and the focus is on optimizing the primary processes. Less attention is paid to the security of the organization. On top of that, many security measures have an impact on day-to-day work, as security and efficiency are at odds. Finally, we also see a role for suppliers of security solutions. It happens all too often that only technology pushed, while security starts with people. It starts by creating awareness about the risks and consequences.You want to have a clear insight into which data is most important and you want to ensure that it is precisely that data that is best protected”,
Mind the gap – about closing the gap between cybersecurity and business
When we talk about making organizations more secure, we should mainly focus on closing the gap between IT and business. Especially in the coming years. According to Marcel, this starts with raising awareness among staff. Communication from IT and cyber experts can help with this. What many people don’t realize enough is that the main goal of these cyber experts is to keep the business functioning undisturbed. That’s why these experts are also of big importance for the business side of the organization. If you use that in your communication and make cyber security a common goal, new opportunities will present themselves!
Would you like to talk about the various options to better secure your organization? Contact one of our experts.