Case Study: The Toll of Ransomware on Travelex

Case Study: The Toll of Ransomware on Travelex

 

Disclaimer: The following case study, while based on actual events, is written for educational purposes only. The projected savings are based on industry average cost estimates (sources cited).

The Incident

In December 2019, Travelex, a prominent foreign exchange company, fell victim to a ransomware attack. The attackers used the Sodinokibi (REvil) ransomware, which encrypted Travelex's data and demanded a ransom. The attack led to the shutdown of Travelex's online services and disrupted operations in 70 countries.

Immediate Impact

The ransomware attack forced Travelex to take all its systems offline to prevent further spread, which had a cascading effect on its global operations. The disruption lasted for several weeks, during which Travelex was unable to process online transactions, significantly impacting its business and customer service.

Sources:

  • BBC News: "Travelex held to ransom by hackers"
  • The Guardian: "Travelex taken offline after ransomware attack"

Industry Average Costs

To better understand the potential savings, let's consider some industry average costs:

  • Average Cost of Ransomware Attack: $4.62 million per incident (IBM, 2022)
  • Downtime Cost: $274,200 per hour (Coveware, 2022)
  • Average Duration of Downtime: 7.3 days (Barracuda, 2022)

For Travelex, the downtime spanned several weeks, leading to significant financial losses.

Financial Impact

Travelex estimated the immediate financial impact of the attack to be around $25 million in losses due to system outages, remediation costs, and lost revenue during the downtime.

Projected Savings with AMEOT Sentry

  1. Preventing the Initial Breach:
    • AMEOT Sentry's proactive threat detection and automated response could have identified and neutralized the ransomware threat before it encrypted Travelex's data.
  2. Minimizing Downtime:
    • With AMEOT's continuous monitoring and real-time threat mitigation, Travelex's downtime could have been significantly reduced. If we assume a conservative reduction in downtime from weeks to just a few days, the potential savings are substantial.
  3. Cost of Downtime:
    • Assuming Travelex's operations were disrupted for three weeks (21 days), and the cost of downtime is $274,200 per hour, the total downtime cost is:
      21 days×24 hours/day×$274,200/hour≈$137.9 million21 \text{ days} \times 24 \text{ hours/day} \times \$274,200/\text{hour} \approx \$137.9 \text{ million}21 days×24 hours/day×$274,200/hour≈$137.9 million
    • If AMEOT Sentry had reduced the downtime to just 7.3 days, the downtime cost would be:
      7.3 days×24 hours/day×$274,200/hour≈$48.0 million7.3 \text{ days} \times 24 \text{ hours/day} \times \$274,200/\text{hour} \approx \$48.0 \text{ million}7.3 days×24 hours/day×$274,200/hour≈$48.0 million
    • Projected Savings in Downtime Cost:
      $137.9 million−$48.0 million=$89.9 million\$137.9 \text{ million} - \$48.0 \text{ million} = \$89.9 \text{ million}$137.9 million−$48.0 million=$89.9 million
  4. Total Projected Savings:
    • The combined savings from reduced downtime and prevented losses are significant. Considering the initial impact of $25 million plus the downtime savings: $25 million+$89.9 million=$114.9 million\$25 \text{ million} + \$89.9 \text{ million} = \$114.9 \text{ million}$25 million+$89.9 million=$114.9 million

Conclusion

By implementing AMEOT Sentry, Travelex could have potentially saved up to $114.9 million, illustrating the significant financial benefit of proactive cybersecurity measures.

Call to Action

At AMEOT, we offer a unique opportunity to change your security posture for the better. Book a short 30-minute call with us to see how we can help your organization move from reactive to proactive security. Our solutions provide peace of mind, reduce operational costs, and improve overall security effectiveness. Book a 30-minute call.


Sources:

  1. BBC News. "Travelex held to ransom by hackers." Retrieved from BBC.
  2. The Guardian. "Travelex taken offline after ransomware attack." Retrieved from The Guardian.
  3. IBM. "Cost of a Data Breach Report 2022." Retrieved from IBM.
  4. Coveware. "Q1 Ransomware Report 2022." Retrieved from Coveware.
  5. Barracuda. "Threat Spotlight: Ransomware attacks take advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic." Retrieved from Barracuda.
  6. Financial Times. "Travelex counts cost of ransomware attack." Retrieved from Financial Times.

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