In planning defensive strategies, IT security professionals must recognize that the cost of a ransomware attack goes far beyond the extortion payment.

On June 27, 2018, Australian web and IT services provider Cyanweb Solutions experienced a data terrorist attack: the stuff of business nightmares. A coordinated attack against the Perth-based company deleted all but 12 percent of the client data stored on its cPanel administrative server. As a company that not only designs websites but acts as an in-house IT department and online marketing advisor to its business customers, the attack’s speed and sophistication is a reminder that even the savviest technology companies are at risk. Thankfully, you have more control over your information than you realize.

IT security professionals often cringe in amusement when cybercrime-themed novels appear on bestseller lists, like “The President is Missing” by former US President Bill Clinton and fiction author James Patterson. Its plot centers on a “devastating stealth wiper virus” called Dark Ages, likely a nod to recent real-world ransomware outbreaks. But this is entertainment, not a serious work of scholarship. If you are worrying about a cyberattack that can only be stopped by a superhero, you hopefully are reclined and sipping a piña colada, not thinking about actual IT security strategy.

On March 22, 2018, the City of Atlanta, Georgia was struck by a ransomware attack that crippled municipals systems and forced the city’s IT team to verify every machine’s integrity.