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V O L . X X I I I N O. X V I I I A U G U S T 7 , 2 0 1 7 32 A year ago, a Maine business was hit by ransomware for two days and was forced to pay up in order to get its information back. " ey had systems in place so that they could maintain payroll and keep their business going, so they survived without any major impact," says Rick Simonds, chief operating offi cer for Sage Data Security in Portland. "But after the attack, they reassessed their business and strengthened their controls." It's a short and simple anecdote, but it just about sums up what cybersecu- rity experts say about protecting a busi- ness in today's inescapable reality of cybercrime: Be proactive and institute a strategy of layered security. Simonds and other experts say layered security comes from three directions. 1 First, there are preventive mea- sures, things like strong password policies, strengthening fi rewall controls and training employees not to click on suspicious links. 2 Organizations should also assume there will be a breach, given the ever- evolving sophistication and sheer number of attacks. So the additional measure of data backup is key. 3 ere are measures that can help identify where an attack originated in the organization's network, so that compromised systems can be identi- fi ed and quarantined. is gets more sophisticated and involves expert network analysis to identify abnor- mal behavior in the system. In the ever-evolving world of cyber- crime, security is a full-time task that grows more demanding, specialized and sophisticated every day, says Simonds. " e best thing to do is to be pro- active," he says. "Plan ahead, and plan for the worst." Zero day is here to stay While the big headlines are about massive breaches that occur at big- box retailers and banks, and the global infections of ransomware like WannaCry and Petya, cybercrime is everywhere, all the time and can hit any business or institution large or small, the experts say. Steve Morgan, founder and CEO of Cybersecurity Ventures in Menlo Park, Calif., estimates that the cost of P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Rick Simonds, chief operating offi cer for Sage Data Security in Portland, near a screen with real-time cyber threats in the world. Simonds says cybercrime "is a game of cat and mouse, and it seems the good guys are playing catch-up all the time." Dark net Cybercrime is here to stay. Layered security is key B y L a u r i e S c h r e i b e r F O C U S S O U R C E : "Cybersecurity Market Report," Cybersecurity Ventures in Menlo Park, Calif; Security Affairs S O U R C E : Cybersecurity Ventures COST OF CYBERCRIME GLOBAL CYBERSECURITY PRODUCTS/SERVICES U.S. Global 2013 $100 billion — 2015 $400 billion $3 trillion 2021 (projected) — $6 trillion Cost 2004 $3.5 billion 2015 $75 billion 2017 (projected) $120 billion

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