In today’s interconnected world, cyberattacks are more frequent and more dangerous than ever before. Businesses, regardless of size or industry, are prime targets for cybercriminals.

These attacks can cause widespread damage and create long-lasting consequences. Kaspersky dives into the impact of cyberattacks on business and reveals the key losses that an unprotected business can suffer.

When we consider the impact of cyberattacks on business, the first thing we pay attention to is financial losses. An example of an incident with huge financial losses is the attack on Johnson Controls, a major player in the building technology sector that faced a significant ransomware incident perpetrated by the Dark Angels hacking group.

The attackers claimed to have stolen 27 terabytes of sensitive data and demanded a $51 million ransom. This breach resulted in severe disruptions to the company’s systems and cost over $27 million in damages.

The attack impacted Johnson Controls’ business operations, including disruptions to its billing systems and increased recovery expenses. As a company with a global presence, the breach significantly affected its business relationships and operations.

Below, Kaspersky explores several key ways a cyberattack can hurt your business.

Financial losses

Cyberattacks often result in direct financial losses. Ransomware attacks, where hackers demand payment to restore access to data or directly steal funds, are a clear example. But this is only the beginning, as there are numerous other consequences that may result in considerable indirect financial losses. These can easily exceed what the company has lost as an immediate outcome of the incident.

Operational disruption

Cyberattacks can grind your operations to a halt. Many businesses depend on their digital infrastructure for daily activities. If systems are compromised, productivity falls. In severe cases, entire operations may be disrupted for days or even weeks, resulting in lost revenue, diminished service quality and disappointed clients and partners — an additional impact on your company’s reputation.

Indirect long-term costs

Even following the immediate aftermath of a cyberattack, businesses often face long-term financial impacts. Restoring systems, improving cybersecurity infrastructure, and managing the legal fallout are just some of the lingering costs. Additionally, lost business and damaged customer relationships can take months or years to rebuild.

Reputational damage

The trust your clients place in you is invaluable. If customer data is stolen in a breach, it can severely damage your brand’s reputation. This loss of trust can lead to customers leaving and a long-term decline in business. In some cases, a single breach is enough to ruin a company’s public image beyond repair.

If your business falls victim to an attack, it can also impact your relationships with partners and vendors. Third-party partners might lose confidence in your ability to protect shared data. Similarly, business-critical relationships could be jeopardised if you fail to recover quickly or if your systems compromise their operations.

Legal and compliance issues

With data protection regulations such as the GDPR in Europe, POPIA in South Africa or HIPAA in the U.S., a data breach can lead to heavy fines. Failing to protect sensitive customer or employee data may result in penalties and lawsuits. Furthermore, companies that fall victim to breaches often face lengthy legal battles, which add to the financial and reputational strain.

Loss of intellectual property

For many businesses, intellectual property (IP) is among their most valuable assets. Cyberattacks targeting IP can steal product designs, marketing strategies, and proprietary information.

This is particularly harmful in competitive industries like technology and pharmaceuticals, where IP theft can erase the advantage a company has spent years building.

“Attackers are never idle – they’re like wolves who must be constantly active to catch their prey off-guard.  So, companies need to be ever more alert and agile. They must be sure they have the right solutions and processes to allow for effective threat discovery and containment, as well as swift recovery.

“At Kaspersky, we’re deeply committed to delivering the agile security that businesses need. Proactive assessments and multi-layered protective solutions, plus managed security and actionable threat intelligence – we have it all.

“What’s more important, we have the expertise to put together the exact cybersecurity structure for your individual profile. Only a consistent and comprehensive approach, like this one, can ensure true business resilience against today’s cyber risks,” comments Oleg Gorobets, Security Evangelist at Kaspersky.

New research from IDC entitled, The Global Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Economy and Jobs, predicts that business spending to adopt artificial intelligence (AI), to use AI in existing business operations, and to deliver better products/services to business and consumer customers will have a cumulative global economic impact of $19.9 trillion through 2030 and drive 3.5% of global GDP in 2030.

As a result, AI will affect jobs across every region of the world, impacting industries like contact center operations, translation, accounting, and machinery inspection. Helping to trigger this shift are business leaders who almost unanimously, 98%, view AI as a priority for their organizations.

AI’s Net Positive Global Economic Impact

According to the research, in 2030, every new dollar spent on business-related AI solutions and services will generate $4.60 into the global economy, in terms of indirect and induced effects. This is determined by:

• Increased spending on AI solutions and services driven by accelerated AI adoption
• Economic stimulus among AI adopters, seeing benefits in terms of increased production and new revenue streams
• Impact along the whole AI providers supply chain, increasing revenue for the providers of essential supplies to AI solutions and services providers

“In 2024, AI entered a phase of accelerated development and deployment defined by widespread integration that’s led to a surge in enterprise investments aimed at significantly optimizing operational costs and timelines,” said Lapo Fioretti, Senior Research Analyst, Emerging Technologies and Macroeconomics, IDC. “By automating routine tasks and unlocking new efficiencies, AI will have profound economic consequences, reshaping industries, creating new markets, and altering the competitive landscape.”

Impact on Employment — New Roles Emerge While Others Remain Resilient

The majority of respondents to IDC’s Future of Work Employees Survey expect some (48%) or most (15%) parts of their work to be automated by AI and other tech over the next two years, while only a minority (3%) of employees expect their jobs to be fully automated by AI.

While some work will be negatively impacted by the proliferation of AI, new positions such as AI Ethics Specialists and AI Prompt Engineers will emerge as dedicated roles within global organizations.

The research further indicates that a ‘human touch intensity,’ combined with the level of ‘task repetitiveness’ by which each job is characterized, will inform organizations about roles that are subject to a full AI and automation replacement, versus those where tech’s role will be to augment human capabilities. As such, positions where human social and emotional capabilities are critical, such as nursing and roles where decision-making encompasses ethics and comprehension beyond numbers will remain robust.

“Understandably, we’re all curious to know if AI will replace our jobs,” said Rick Villars, Group Vice President, Worldwide Research, IDC. “As a CEO interviewed by IDC’s Andrea Siviero said, ‘Based on this research it’s clear that we should be asking ourselves how our jobs can be made easier and better by AI. AI will not replace your job but someone who knows how to use AI better than you will.’”

Research Methodology

To estimate the overall economic impact of a technology or a service, IDC developed an economic impact methodology that combines IDC knowledge of the market and internal data with a standard analytical framework, known as an Economic Impact Analysis.

It leverages an input-output (I/O) framework, using the most updated input-output official tables of a specific economy: through I/O tables, specific multipliers are determined and applied to the specific technologies to calculate the related effect.

This IDC Economic Impact Analysis evaluates three types of impact on the economy. In this AI-specific model, these are:

Direct Effect — Includes revenues from artificial intelligence business solutions/services providers directly selling their products to end users.

Indirect Effect — Refers to the economic impact related to the AI supply chain and AI adopters’ benefits. It includes the effects that organizations/tech providers have on the region or country due to their operations related to AI provision.

Backward indirect effects refer to the economic effects on supply chains and industries that provide inputs to AI-driven sectors — in other words, revenues generated in local industries impacted by AI.

Forward indirect effects refer to the effects on AI adopters, excluding consumers, that benefit from the adoption of AI technology, in terms of productivity, revenue growth, and other business parameters.

Induced Effect — These are effects induced by the increase in production. It refers to the impact, due to economic stimulus, from an increase in household income, including existing and new employees linked to the AI value chain across direct and indirect effects layers. People will spend part of their wages in the economy, thus generating additional economic impact.

“The importance of economic impact models is increasing. This type of analysis can be of importance for any vendor who wants to understand the impact of its specific products or services in a short or medium-term period.

“It helps not only businesses but also governments and other stakeholders make informed decisions by evaluating the potential benefits of a technology investment, for example, to the economy,” said Carla La Croce, Research Manager, Data and Analytics, IDC.

The IDC report, The Global Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Economy and Jobs: AI will Steer 3.5% of GDP in 2030 (Doc #US51057924), assesses the impact of artificial intelligence in terms of economic output and employment.

This assessment leverages IDC’s knowledge of the market and internal data, as well as IDC’s Economic Impact model, which considers the direct, indirect, and induced effects of AI in the economy.

“The study delves into the global impact of AI on the economy, diving deep into specific regions, technology layers, and industries. The goal is to assess AI’s cumulative contributions to the economy with respect to the forecast global GDP in 2030.

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Konga Health in partnership with L’Oréal, a global leader in premium skincare, has announced the appointment of prospective authorized professional resellers of its high-demand products.

This exciting opportunity offers structured Nigerian retailers, wholesalers, healthcare professionals, and structured online sellers a chance to join the growing network of resellers for world-renowned brands such as CeraVe, La Roche-Posay and others.

The partnership between L’Oréal Dermatological Beauty and Konga Health has been instrumental in bringing genuine top-tier skincare solutions to the Nigerian market. With a commitment to providing access to premium, dermatologist-recommended skincare products, this new initiative is set to expand the brand’s presence while offering businesses a profitable opportunity to grow their offerings.

This initiative is open to various business models, whether you’re a retail store, an online seller, a wholesaler, or a healthcare professional—be it a dermatologist, pharmacist, or aesthetician.

The beauty industry has shown tremendous growth globally, and partnering with L’Oréal through Konga Health presents a unique chance to expand your portfolio with premium skincare brands that practically sell themselves.

L’Oréal Dermatological Beauty is known for its science-backed products, trusted by dermatologists and healthcare professionals around the world.

Joining this network of professional resellers means gaining access to some of the most highly regarded skincare products, enabling resellers to meet the growing demand for effective, high-quality skincare solutions.

As an authorized reseller, businesses will benefit from a number of advantages. These include high-profit margins, pre- and post-sales support, comprehensive marketing materials, and product training.

Additionally, the L’Oréal Dermatological Beauty brand enjoys strong nationwide recognition, ensuring that resellers can tap into a large and loyal customer base.

To apply, interested businesses and healthcare professionals should visit: konga.com/resellers, email – [email protected] or call 0907 003 8627 for more information. Applications are open to both new and existing businesses seeking to enhance their offerings and tap into the growing demand for premium skincare products.