Kaspersky Lab: Businesses Pay More to Recover from a Security Breach if Virtual Infrastructure is Affected

Businesses pay a significant premium to recover from a cyber attack, if virtual infrastructure is affected during the incident. Enterprises pay more than US$800,000 on average to recover from a security breach, which is twice as much compared to incidents involving only physical infrastructure. This is one of the key findings of a special report on the Security of Virtual Infrastructure prepared by Kaspersky Lab, based on a worldwide survey of 5,500 companies conducted in cooperation with B2B International in 2015.

According to the report, SMBs experience the same pattern as enterprises. On average SMBs reported damage of more than $26,000 for an attack on their physical infrastructure. The involvement of virtual infrastructure in a security breach however, drives the cost up closer to $60,000.

The main reason behind the additional cost for  a security breach affecting virtual environments is that the majority of businesses use virtual infrastructure for their most important operations. While an attack on physical nodes leads to the temporary loss of access to business critical information in 36% of incidents reported, this rises to 66% when a breach affects virtual servers and desktops. Attacks affecting virtual environments also more frequently require additional budget on third-party expertise. Businesses have to request help not only from IT consultants, but also lawyers, risk management experts and others.

The complexity of security measures in a virtual environment, as well as an incorrect perception of the threat landscape are two additional elements that increase the cost of recovery in the virtual environment. Kaspersky Lab’s report shows that 42% of businesses believe that security risks in virtual environments are significantly lower than in ‘physical’ environments. 45% of companies report that security management in virtual environments is perceived as a problem. Furthermore, only 27% of businesses have deployed a security solution, specifically designed for the virtual environment.

“Businesses expect that going virtual will drive down their IT spend and streamline their infrastructure. However, the survey results show us that if there is not enough attention paid to security matters in the virtual environment, expenses may exceed the benefit. Our view is that businesses should use customized, virtual-aware security solutions with centralized management and reporting. The solution should have a low impact on resources, a high detection rate and the ability to spot suspicious activity right away,” commented Matvey Voytov, Corporate Products Group Manager, Kaspersky Lab.

To learn more about Kaspersky Security for Virtualization, a tailored solution for virtual environments, go to Kaspersky Lab’s dedicated webpage.

To download the complete report with additional stats on virtualization platform usage click here.